Department for Transport

Horticulture: Vehicles

Drew Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of information provided to horticultural businesses on the installation of tachographs in horticultural vehicles which operate within 100 kilometres of their home base and also deliver third party goods.

Mr Richard Holden: Whether or not a vehicle needs a tachograph depends on whether the vehicle falls under scope of Regulation (EC) 561/2006 (“the EU drivers’ hours rules”) as retained in UK Law. The EU drivers' hours rules, which require the use of tachographs and prescribe maximum limits on driving time and minimum requirements for breaks and rest periods, apply to drivers of most vehicles used for the carriage of goods, where the maximum permissible weight of the vehicle (or combinations of vehicle and trailer) exceeds 3.5 tonnes. In this context goods is defined as goods or burden of any description.There are a number of specific exemptions and national derogations, including for: “Vehicles used or hired without a driver by agricultural, horticultural, forestry, farming or fishery undertakings for carrying goods as part of their own entrepreneurial activity within a radius of 100 km from the base of the undertaking.”. If the vehicle is used for the delivery of third party goods, this national derogation would not apply and the vehicle would need to have a tachograph fitted. The driver would need to comply with the retained EU drivers’ hours rules. This national derogation has been in place since 2007 and should be well known to the horticultural industry. There is detailed information on the gov.uk website on drivers’ hours, including advice on exemptions and national derogations. The Government has not made any assessment on the adequacy of information provided.

Railways: Christmas

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to minimise disruption of the rail network over the Christmas and New Year period.

Huw Merriman: We expect approximately 20 per cent of planned services to run on strike days announced for the Christmas and New Year periods, with considerable regional variation. While generally few rail services run during bank holidays, passengers’ travel will be affected. Network Rail has planned an ambitious £120 million engineering works programme for the Christmas period, aimed at maintaining and renewing track assets. Although the industrial action will impact planned works, Network Rail is working to ensure as many projects as possible can be completed. Passengers may see lower levels of service on non-strike days between Christmas and New Year, to ensure critical works can progress as planned.

Railways: Strikes

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much public money has been paid to train operating companies on days where their services have not been able to run to due strike action since 1 January 2022.

Huw Merriman: Operators are compensated for all reasonable costs incurred that are accumulated in accordance with the terms of the contract; these are paid on a rail period basis with no distinction made for costs incurred on a strike day versus those incurred on non-strike days.

Railways: Snow and Ice

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with stakeholders in (a) Network Rail, (b) Train Operating Companies and (c) the wider rail industry on resilience of the rail network this winter.

Huw Merriman: The Department maintains regular contact with Network Rail, train operating companies and the wider rail industry to ensure their seasonal preparedness plans are in place with clear mitigations outlined to minimise disruption throughout the winter. Network Rail and train operators have well-established operational measures to manage services safely during any incidents that affect railway operations, including extreme weather events.

Railways: Snow and Ice

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the principal risks to the rail network in winter 2022-23 are; and what steps he is taking to mitigate those risks.

Huw Merriman: The Department works closely with the rail industry on its planning for risks facing the rail network. This winter these risks include the impacts of ongoing industrial action, sickness and staff absence, and severe weather. Network Rail and the wider industry are responsible for managing the effects of any risks affecting railway operations, and in anticipation of incidents such as extreme weather conditions, industry works together to implement the necessary mitigations to ensure safety and minimise disruption.

Hydrogen Fuelling Stations

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to address challenges with hydrogen refuelling infrastructure and availability.

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to support hydrogen use in public transport ecosystems.

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to support hydrogen use in private sector car fleets.

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to support larger vehicles utilising hydrogen across the transport network.

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on using hydrogen as a fuel for road vehicles as an alternative to electrification while serving as an early market for low-carbon hydrogen projects.

Jesse Norman: The Department for Transport’s (DfT) pioneering R&D programmes, such as its £200m zero emission HGV demonstrator and the £23m Tees Valley Hydrogen Transport Hub, are co-locating transport supply with demand in order to address some of the early challenges seen with refuelling infrastructure. The Government’s Hydrogen Strategy states that transport is a ‘crucial’ early market for hydrogen, which will drive some of the earliest low carbon production in the UK. DfT is working closely with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) to meet this challenge. Thus, in March 2022 the Government announced £30 million for the West Midlands Combined Authority to deploy 124 hydrogen fuel cell buses and accompanying refuelling infrastructure through its Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas scheme. The Government has also provided £750,000 towards the UK’s first hydrogen train, Hydroflex, through the First of a Kind scheme. The Government expects there to be cascade benefits for light duty vehicles from its R&D support programmes for heavier modes, for example through the expansion of publicly accessible refuelling infrastructure, available to all road transport. The Department’s dedicated R&D funding for hydrogen is focussed on heavier applications, such as in maritime, aviation and road freight. Recent investments include £206 million for the UK Shipping Office for Reducing Emissions (UK-SHORE) and £200 million for the Department’s zero emission HGV demonstrator programme.

Public Transport: Hydrogen

Ian Paisley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to support hydrogen use in public transport ecosystems.

Jesse Norman: In March 2022, the Government announced £30 million for the West Midlands Combined Authority to deploy 124 hydrogen fuel cell buses and accompanying refuelling infrastructure through its Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas scheme. The Government has also provided £750,000 towards the UK’s first hydrogen train, Hydroflex through the First of a Kind scheme.

Road Traffic Offences: Fixed Penalties

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made a recent assessment of the adequacy of the support available to motorists to appeal against Penalty Charge Notices that they believe have been issued in error.

Mr Richard Holden: Local authorities are responsible for issuing Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) and the administration process, including appeals. In the event of a PCN being issued, there is a clear appeals structure set out in legislation which allows a driver to challenge whether this was issued fairly or not. Motorist have a statutory right to appeal a PCN issued, if they believe there are mitigating circumstances or that the contravention did not occur. If a motorist is not content with the outcome of an appeal to the local authority, they may appeal to the independent tribunal.

Road Traffic Offences: Fixed Penalties

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of implementing payment plans for Penalty Charge Notices in the context of the cost of living crisis.

Mr Richard Holden: Local authorities are responsible for the administration of Penalty Charge Notice payments. It is a matter for individual local authorities to decide how the penalty charges owed are paid, including a potential payment instalment plan.

A36: Cleveland Bridge

Wera Hobhouse: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether Cleveland Bridge in Bath is on the A36 Primary Route.

Mr Richard Holden: The bridge is on a local road, linked to but not on the Strategic Road Network (SRN). The A36 is a Primary Route but the SRN comprising the A46 and A36 from the M4 to the Dorset coast is not continuous through Bath.

Roads: Salt

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many tonnes of salt were held in the national emergency salt reserve managed by National Highways on behalf of his Department as of 1 December 2022.

Mr Richard Holden: For this winter season (2022/23), the Department has retained an emergency salt stockpile of approximately 254,078 tonnes with a further 92,554 tonnes being held by National Highways for use on the Strategic Network.

Department for Transport: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to his Department’s publication of government procurement card spending over £500 for October 2021, for what purpose were payments of £3,510.69 made to City Fleet Networks on 14 October 2021.

Jesse Norman: This was for taxi bookings for a range of different government departments when the Government Car Service didn’t have sufficient drivers available.

Railways: Freight

Andrea Leadsom: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his Department's process is for granting a change to a Development Consent Order for a strategic rail freight interchange.

Huw Merriman: There are different processes for making changes to Development Consent Orders, including Development Consent Orders for Strategic Rail Freight Interchanges, depending on whether the changes are considered to be material or non-material. The Secretary of State for Transport will be the decision-maker on applications for changes to Strategic Rail Freight Interchanges for both material and non-material changes. Details of the processes are set in the Planning Act 2008: Changes to Development Consent Orders guidance published by the former Department for Communities and Local Government and which can be found on https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/changes-to-development-consent-orders

Electric Scooters: Safety

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to strengthen the safety regulations on the use of e-scooters.

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many fatalities his Department has recorded relating to the use of e-scooters.

Jesse Norman: When parliamentary time allows, the Government intends to create a Low-speed Zero Emission Vehicle (LZEV) category that is independent of the cycle and motor vehicle categories. The first focus of this new system will be e-scooters, which we are looking to legalise for private and rental use through secondary legislation. This will require setting robust technical requirements and clear expectations on users. No decisions have been made on the details of the regulations for e-scooters, and we will consult before any new arrangements come into force.From the start of 2020 to end June 2022, there have been a total of 17 fatalities in collisions involving e-scooters reported to the Department by police. Of these, 16 deaths were e-scooter users themselves. The STATS19 collection covers only collisions on the public highway.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Marine Animals and Tidal Power: Morlais

Virginia Crosbie: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he is taking steps to provide funding to Morlais on Anglesey for research and development into the interaction of marine mammals and tidal stream turbines after the end of 2023; and whether he has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of ringfencing tidal steam energy in the Contracts for Difference Allocation Round Five.

Graham Stuart: The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Energy Bill Relief Scheme

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of requiring energy companies to pay the rest of the amount due under the Energy Bills Support Scheme in cash value rather than via credits on people's electricity accounts in cases where the value of a customer’s direct debit is less than the value of the EBSS payment.

Graham Stuart: The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Energy Bills Rebate: District Heating

Chris Law: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what methods his Department has assessed for the delivery of the Energy Bills Support Scheme to domestic households on communal heating systems.

Graham Stuart: The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Tobacco: Smuggling

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many reports have been received by Trading Standards through the Citizens Advice consumer helpline relating to illegal tobacco in each of the last five years.

Kevin Hollinrake: The total number of cases referred to Trading Standards by Citizens Advice consumer service totalled 249,001 in the last financial year. Information on the main topics Citizens Advice clients seek advice on is provided via the Citizens Advice website.

Paternity and Adoption Leave Regulations 2002

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the Retained EU Law Bill, whether he plans to (a) retain (b) replace and (c) revoke the Paternity and Adoption Leave Regulations 2002.

Kevin Hollinrake: In leaving the EU we regained the ability to regulate autonomously, and the Government is therefore conducting a comprehensive review of all retained EU employment law to ensure that our regulations are tailored to the needs of the UK economy and help create the conditions for economic growth.

Intellectual Property: Regulation

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 14 November 2022 to Question 80687, what steps he is taking to ensure that (a) intellectual property practitioners are effectively regulated and (b) consumers have access to an appropriate redress mechanism against those practitioners.

Kevin Hollinrake: I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given to him by my Hon. Friend the Minister of State for Science, Research and Innovation on 14th November 2022 to Question 80687: the Government supports appropriate regulation of intellectual property practitioners where this is necessary to ensure that applicants and rights holders are effectively represented. The Government has not seen a need to change the current regulatory framework. However, the Government welcomes evidence from practitioners and consumers if they consider there to be deficiencies in the current system.

Electronic Cigarettes: Sales

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of Trading Standards' powers to regulate the sale of vaping products and tackle illicit vaping tobacco products.

Kevin Hollinrake: Vapes are regulated through the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 and the Nicotine Inhaling Products (Age of Sale and Proxy Purchasing) Regulations 2015. These regulations have allowed vapes to be available to support smokers quit while limiting access by children and non-smokers. The government continues to work with enforcement agencies to ensure these regulations are enforced in England. Suspected illegal activity should be reported in the first instance to the Citizens Advice consumer service on 0808 223 1133 (www.citizensadvice.org.uk/).

Research: Kingston upon Hull North

Dame Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much funding his Department has provided for research and development in Kingston upon Hull North constituency in the 2022-23 financial year.

Kevin Hollinrake: The University of Hull, which has a campus in the constituency received £9,792,327 for the academic year in Quality-related research (QR) funding and Higher Education Innovation Funding (HEIF) delivered through Research England. UK Research and Innovation do not yet have full data for competitive grants in the current financial year 2022/23.

Small Businesses: Kingston upon Hull North

Dame Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many small and medium-sized enterprises in Kingston upon Hull North constituency have received Government funding for support during the cost of living crisis in 2022.

Kevin Hollinrake: The Government recognises the impact rising prices are having on businesses. Businesses in Kingston upon Hull North will have benefitted from the Government’s reversal of the National Insurance rise, saving SMEs approximately £4,200 on average; the cut to fuel duty for 12 months; and the Energy Bill Relief Scheme to protect SMEs from high energy costs over the winter. In addition, the Recovery Loan Scheme is available to SMEs across the UK. The Employment Allowance was increased to £5,000 from April and we have continued to provide business rate relief worth over £7bn, freezing the business rates multiplier for a further year. The Government is also providing financial support through the Start Up loan scheme - 537 SMEs in Kingston upon Hull have received loans to the value of £ 4,042,768 as of November 2022.

Business: Kingston upon Hull North

Dame Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has had recent discussions with businesses in Kingston upon Hull North constituency on the potential impact of the cost of living crisis on those businesses.

Kevin Hollinrake: The Government recognises the impact rising prices are having on businesses, including those in Kingston upon Hull North, and is engaging with businesses across the UK to understand these challenges and explore ways to mitigate them.   The Government has reversed the National Insurance rise, saving SMEs £4,200 on average; cut fuel duty for 12 months; and brought in the Energy Bill Relief Scheme which is shielding businesses across the country from soaring energy prices, saving some around half of their wholesale energy costs. The Employment Allowance was increased to £5,000 from April and we have continued to provide business rate relief worth over £7bn, freezing the business rates multiplier for a further year. We have also announced £13.6 billion of support for businesses over the next five years, reducing the burden of business rates for SMEs.

Business: Kingston upon Hull North

Dame Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make an estimate of the number of businesses that are owned by black and ethnic minority people in Kingston upon Hull North constituency.

Kevin Hollinrake: The Government does not hold regional information on the proportion of BME-owned businesses in Kingston upon Hull North. Government is aware of the challenges faced by ethnic minority businesses and is taking action to support them. Ministers regularly engage with ethnic minority business leaders and networks to better understand the issues facing them. We are working with stakeholders to agree interventions to improve access to finance. Since its launch (2012) the Start Up Loans programme has issued around 20% of its loans to Black, Asian, and Ethnic-minority business worth £187,043,936. We are also delivering actions set out in the Inclusive Britain report (2022), which aim to support ethnic minority entrepreneurs.

Post Offices: ICT

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Horizon scandal compensation schemes at restoring affected postmasters to the financial position they would otherwise be in were it not for that scandal.

Kevin Hollinrake: Government wants to see all postmasters affected by the Horizon scandal receive the compensation they deserve as quickly as possible. As part of normal processes, the Government regularly monitors its programmes to ensure they are effective. We provide regular updates to the BEIS Select Committee on spend on compensation.

Post Office: Fujitsu

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans he has to make Fujitsu accountable for the monies lost to the public purse as part of the Horizon Post Office scandal.

Kevin Hollinrake: The Government has set up a statutory inquiry into the Post Office Horizon scandal. Collective and individual accountability for the scandal can only be considered when the Inquiry has reviewed all of the evidence.

Clothing: Manufacturing Industries

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment the Government has made of the potential merits of introducing a garment trade adjudicator to tackle non-compliance with labour market regulation in the UK garment industry.

Kevin Hollinrake: In response to the single enforcement body consultation published last year, the government reaffirmed its commitment to continue engaging with the enforcement bodies and industry partners to strengthen our understanding of the garment trade. We will continue to review this issue and consider options to drive up standards across the sector. Since October 2020, a wide group of stakeholders comprising retailers, manufacturers and non-profit organisations have been working with the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) under the Apparel and General Merchandise Public Private Protocol to address poor working, pay, and purchasing practices in the UK supply chain.

Life Sciences and Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing and Access

Chris Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on improving the UK's standing as a global life sciences hub and the use of the Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing Access.

Kevin Hollinrake: As the accountable Secretaries of State for the Life Sciences Vision, the Government and life sciences sector’s blueprint for ensuring the UK becomes a world leading science superpower and global life sciences leader, my Rt. Hon. Friends the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care are regularly engaged in discussions on how we can deliver on the ambitions of the Vision for the economy and for NHS patients. This was the subject of discussion at the most recent Life Sciences Council on the 28th of November, where the Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing Access was also discussed.

Members: Correspondence

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when his Department plans to respond to the correspondence of 12 October 2022 from the hon. Member for Liverpool, Walton on prepayment energy meters.

Graham Stuart: The correspondence has been received by BEIS, with apologies for the delay in replying. A response will be issued to the hon. Member shortly.

Energy Bills Rebate: Rented Housing

Beth Winter: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 1 December 2022 to Question 94849 on Energy Bills Rebate: Rented Housing, whether he has made a recent assessment of the adequacy of Ofgem’s enforcement of its Maximum Resale Price rules on requiring landlords not to charge tenants more than they have paid a supplier for the energy.

Graham Stuart: Ofgem is not responsible for the enforcement of the Maximum Resale Price. If a tenant suspects they are being overcharged for their energy, they can either make a complaint to the trading standards office or pursue their complaint via the courts. To ensure recent government support is reaching consumers, the Government has introduced new requirements in the Energy Prices Act, which require third-party intermediaries, such as landlords, to pass support through to end users, such as tenants

Energy: Meters

Beth Winter: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 30 November 2022 to Question 93691 on Energy: Meters, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the (a) monitoring and (b) enforcement by Ofgem of energy suppliers' assessments of customer's ability to pay in calculating prepayment meter repayment rates.

Graham Stuart: There are no plans for an assessment. Ofgem’s rules require suppliers to put customers in arrears on realistic and sustainable repayment plans. Suppliers are also required to have appropriate credit management policies and guidelines in place and to monitor arrangements for repayment after they have been set up. Ofgem’s recent Market Compliance Review found that most suppliers need to make improvements to meet their obligations. Two suppliers were served with immediate enforcement notices, and the regulator will also consider whether enforcement action is warranted for other suppliers.

Education: Energy

Peter Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing additional financial support to education providers who have had their energy contracts terminated on the basis of assessments made by suppliers of the credit worthiness of those providers.

Graham Stuart: The Energy Bill Relief Scheme (EBRS) provides a price reduction to ensure that all education providers are protected from excessively high energy bills over the winter period. EBRS also provides additional support to those on deemed and out of contract tariffs if they meet the definition of the qualifying financially disadvantaged customers as set out in the scheme’s regulations and rules.

Intellectual Property: Artificial Intelligence

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the number of instances where creative industries have failed to license their repertoire to artificial intelligence developers.

Kevin Hollinrake: The Government asked specific questions about impact in the consultation on AI and IP, but very limited quantitative evidence was submitted. However, smaller users such as small businesses and start-ups, as well as many researchers, have indicated that - when seeking to analyse works from multiple sources - licences have been out of reach on the grounds of cost or complexity.

Hydrogen

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential overall electricity transmission grid balancing benefits of hydrogen.

Graham Stuart: The Government views hydrogen as an important component of our future power system to provide low carbon flexibility as we integrate more intermittent renewables. Excess renewable electricity can be used to produce hydrogen, using electrolysers, which can be stored over time and used flexibly to generate power when there is less sun or wind to power the grid. As set out in the British Energy Security Strategy, the Government is committed to ensuring consideration is given in our hydrogen production policies to the siting of hydrogen electrolysers to best use surplus low carbon electricity and to reduce electricity network constraints.

Hydrogen: Investment

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to ensure that all regions of the UK benefit from hydrogen investment.

Graham Stuart: In the Energy Security Strategy, the Government doubled its ambition from 5GW to up to 10GW of low carbon production capacity by 2030, including a commitment to host yearly electrolytic allocation funding rounds for projects across the UK. Together with a clear policy and regulatory environment, the Government expects to mobilise over £9 billion of private investment in hydrogen production alone across all regions of the UK by 2030.

Hydrogen: Production

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to help ensure that the low-carbon hydrogen production pipeline develops outside of the UK’s industrial clusters.

Graham Stuart: The Government is aware of a potential pipeline of almost 20GW of projects across the UK in every corner of the Union. The Government launched the first joint Hydrogen Production Business Model and Net Zero Hydrogen Fund allocation round to support electrolytic projects across the UK this year, with the aim to award contracts in 2023. Transport and storage (T&S) will also be essential to grow the hydrogen economy, including outside of industrial clusters. Government will publish a response to its consultation on T&S business models next year.

Hydrogen: Production

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has made an assessment of the potential economic benefits of increasing the UK’s production of low-carbon hydrogen.

Graham Stuart: The UK’s hydrogen ambition – up to 10GW of production capacity by 2030 – offers significant economic opportunities across the country. Government analysis suggests the sector could be worth over £900m and support 12,000 jobs by 2030, unlocking over £9bn in private investment in production alone.

Hydrogen: Production

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will take steps to help increase the production of low-carbon hydrogen in the UK.

Graham Stuart: The Government has doubled its ambition to up to 10GW of low carbon hydrogen production capacity by 2030, subject to affordability and value for money. The UK's increased ambition will drive significant private sector investment, delivered by a strong investable proposition through the Hydrogen Production Business Model, which will help to address the key barrier to deployment, the cost gap compared to fossil fuels. The Net Zero Hydrogen Fund will also provide up to £240 million to 2025 to support the development and construction of new low carbon hydrogen production plants.

Hospitality Industry: Rural Areas

Alun Cairns: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what additional support his Department plans to make available for off-grid care pubs and hospitality businesses on increased energy costs.

Graham Stuart: Non-domestic consumers off the gas grid will receive a one-off fixed payment of £150 through electricity suppliers in Great Britain and Northern Ireland. A top-up payment in addition to the £150 will be available for large users of heating oil (kerosene) in GB and NI to take account of their higher usage. These top-up payments will require an application to a delivery body and will be banded based on level of usage.

Energy: Meters

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has sought assurances that suppliers are only installing pre-payment meters by warrant as a last resort after all other options have been exhausted.

Graham Stuart: The energy regulator Ofgem has rules in place that restrict the force-fitting of a prepayment meter on those in arrears, except as a last resort. Suppliers are required to provide notice of at least seven days before installing a prepayment meter or changing a smart meter to prepayment mode. Ofgem rules further require energy suppliers to assess whether installing a prepayment meter, including the remote switching of a smart meter, is safe and reasonably practicable for the customer. This assessment should include identifying any vulnerability.

Renewable Energy: Community Development

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to (a) remove potential barriers to local communities from setting up new community renewable energy projects and (b) increase the number of new community renewable energy projects in the UK.

Graham Stuart: Ofgem supports community energy projects and welcomes applications from community interest groups, co-operative societies, and community benefit societies to the Industry Voluntary Redress Scheme. The Government is enabling local areas to tackle net zero goals through UK-wide growth funding schemes. The Government encourages community energy groups to work closely with their local authority to support the development of community energy projects within these schemes. The Government has also reintroduced the Community Energy Contact Group to strengthen its engagement with the sector.

Energy Bill Relief Scheme: Kingston upon Hull North

Dame Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that small and medium-sized enterprises are receiving the correct level of support from the Energy Bill Relief Scheme in Kingston upon Hull North constituency.

Graham Stuart: The Energy Bill Relief Scheme is in legislation and will be applied in a uniform way by all licensed suppliers. The regulations include a robust compliance and enforcement regime to ensure requirements are being met. Suppliers are also required to inform customers about the details of support, including the amount of the discount and discounted supply price.

Renewable Energy: Kingston upon Hull North

Dame Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he plans to increase funding for renewable energy sources in Kingston upon Hull North constituency.

Graham Stuart: Grant funding for renewable innovation or community-based renewable schemes is open for both local authorities and private investors to bid. The Contract for Difference scheme, the Government’s main mechanism for supporting low carbon generation, is awarded through a competitive process, ensuring that the most cost-effective projects are supported regardless of their location.

Job Creation: Kingston upon Hull North

Dame Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make an estimate of the number of jobs that have been created in Kingston upon Hull North constituency as a result of the implementation of the ten point plan for a green industrial revolution, published on 18 November 2020.

Graham Stuart: The Government is providing significant investment for the offshore renewable, low-carbon, energy production and carbon capture industries across East Yorkshire and the Humber. Zero Carbon Humber has been awarded £21m of Government funding to support its aim to turn the Humber region into a net zero cluster by 2040. Zero Carbon Humber also collaborates on the East Coast Cluster, selected as one of the first two carbon capture, usage, and storage clusters to be taken forward by the UK government. The Humber Freeport will also support low carbon economic growth whilst creating over 1,000 high-quality employment opportunities.

Industry: Kingston upon Hull North

Dame Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, which industry in Kingston upon Hull North constituency receives the most Government funding as of 7 December 2022.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The Government does not collect data on industrial investment at constituency level. Residents in Kingston upon Hull North benefit from numerous streams of funding to support local growth including £19.5m through the Levelling Up Fund for the regeneration of Hull City Centre and £10.6m through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund to focus on local priorities. To support research, development and innovation, £28 million of UK Research and Innovation funding has been invested in East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire between 2019 and 2021. Regional data is not yet available for UK Research and Innovation investment beyond this.

Housing: Kingston upon Hull North

Dame Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make an estimate of the number of homes that have had solar power panels installed in Kingston upon Hull North constituency as of 31 October 2022.

Graham Stuart: At the end of October 2022, there were 1,016 domestic installations of solar panels recorded in Kingston upon Hull North constituency.

Energy Charter Treaty

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his Department's policies on the Energy Charter Treaty of the opinion published by the French High Climate Council on 20 October 2022.

Graham Stuart: The UK has been closely monitoring the situation surrounding the Energy Charter Treaty’s modernisation process, including the positions taken by other Contracting Parties. The Government will continue to do so as part of our engagement with the Treaty’s modernisation process.

Housing: Stockport

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, which ward in Stockport constituency has the highest proportion of homes fitted with external wall insulation.

Graham Stuart: BEIS estimates that under the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) and Green Homes Grant (GHG) Government schemes, the ward with the highest proportion of external wall insulation measures installed in Stockport constituency is Manor.

Renewable Energy: Feed-in Tariffs

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment the Government has made of the potential impact of the closure of the feed-in tariff on (a) investments in new renewable energy projects, (b) investments in new community renewable energy projects and (c) the ability of low-income communities to set up their own community renewable energy projects.

Graham Stuart: No post-closure assessment of the Feed-in Tariffs (FIT) scheme has been undertaken. Data available on the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) dashboard indicates that current deployment of solar at this small-scale, which accounts for 99% of all installations supported under the FIT scheme, is comparable to levels seen under the scheme prior to 2016 when reduced FIT tariffs were introduced.

Houseboats: Energy Bills Rebate

Munira Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether houseboat residents will be eligible for the £200 Alternative Fuel Payment.

Graham Stuart: The Alternative Fuel Payment of £200 will provide support for those in properties using fuels such as heating oil, liquified petroleum gas, coal or biomass for heating. The Government will set out more details on the scheme soon.

North Sea Oil: Shetland

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of developing the Rosebank oil field on the UK's ambition to (a) protect 30% of its oceans by 2030 and (b) introduce a net gain approach to infrastructure and development in the marine environment.

Graham Stuart: In relation to part a) of his question, I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave the Hon. Member for Norwich South on 1st November 2022 to Question 69714. In relation to part b) I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given by my Hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on 9th November 2022 to Question 69715.

North Sea Oil: Shetland

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the potential impact of developing the Rosebank oil field on her Department's ambitions to protect 30% of the UK's oceans by 2030.

Graham Stuart: I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave the Hon. Member for Norwich South on 1st November 2022 to Question 69714.

North Sea Oil: Shetland

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the compatibility of developing the Rosebank oil field with the (a) decarbonisation targets for industry in the North Sea Transition Deal, (b) UK’s carbon budgets and net zero target and (c) the UK’s obligations and commitments towards international climate targets.

Graham Stuart: I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave the Hon. Member for Norwich South on 1st November 2022 to Question 69713.

Offshore Industry: Licensing

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to ensure that the new oil and gas licensing round does not damage protected marine habitats.

Graham Stuart: The North Sea Transition Authority holds offshore oil and gas licensing rounds. As part of the licensing round process, the Offshore Petroleum Regulator for Environment and Decommissioning will undertake the assessments required by the Offshore Petroleum Activities (Conservation of Habitats) Regulations 2001 (Habitats Regulations assessments) to determine if the activities proposed could have an adverse effect on the integrity of a relevant site. Licences will only be awarded after such Habitats Regulations assessments.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Maritime UK

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many hours officials in his Department have worked to (a) attend and (b) support the policy agenda of the National Council of Maritime UK since 2019-20 to date.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: BEIS officials regularly engage with Maritime UK as a key trade body for Marine in the UK, including attending and updating on BEIS activities at the National Council – work to support the Marine agenda is a key priority across Government and as such officials spend a great deal of time working directly and indirectly on Marine policy issues which are often discussed at National Council meetings.

Palliative Care: Energy Bill Relief Scheme

Sir Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will take steps to provide additional funding to (a) children's hospices and (b) palliative care charities when the non-domestic Energy Bill Relief Scheme ends in March 2023.

Graham Stuart: HM Treasury is currently conducting a review of the Energy Bill Relief Scheme and evidence from care providers is included in that review. The Government cannot confirm which sectors will receive further support after 31st March 2023 until the end of the review, which will report by the end of this year.

Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, which type of non-domestic public sector buildings have received the most funding from the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme, as of 9 December 2022.

Graham Stuart: The Department does not hold a breakdown of Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme funding by building type. However, the Department does hold a breakdown of funding allocated by sector.As of 9 December 2022, Local Authorities have received the most funding from the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme to install heat decarbonisation and energy efficiency measures in their buildings, followed by the NHS and Further and Higher Education Institutions.Further details on sectoral breakdowns for each phase of the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme are available in the summary reports published on the scheme’s GOV.UK pages: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/public-sector-decarbonisation-scheme.

Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, which constituencies have received the most funding from the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme, as of 9 December 2022.

Graham Stuart: The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy does not hold a breakdown of Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme funding by constituency. Lists of all projects funded through the scheme can be found on the scheme’s GOV.UK page: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/public-sector-decarbonisation-scheme.

Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much money has the Government spent on the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme, as of 24 November 2022.

Graham Stuart: The Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme is making available £2.5 billion over the financial years 2020/21 to 2024/25 to install heat decarbonisation and energy efficiency measures in public sector buildings. As of 24 November 2022, the scheme had awarded grants worth £1.7 billion to fund such projects.

Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, which constituencies have received the most funding from the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund.

Graham Stuart: The Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund Wave 1 awarded around £178m of grant funding, delivering from 2022 into 2023. Data is held on local authority-led projects rather than at a constituency level. The Local Authorities which received funding under Demonstrator and Wave 1 are listed on Gov.uk. The SHDF Wave 2.1 competition will allocate up to £800m of grant funding, with successful projects notified around March 2023.

Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much funding his Department has provided through the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund as of 9 December 2022.

Graham Stuart: The SHDF Demonstrator project, launched in 2020, awarded around £62m of grant funding in 2021. The Government launched Wave 1 of the SHDF in 2021 and it has awarded around £179m of grant funding. The Wave 2.1 competition, which closed in November 2022 will look to allocate up to £800m of grant funding. The Autumn Statement announced a further £6bn to improve the energy efficiency of homes, including social housing from 2025 – 2028.

Energy Bills Rebate: District Heating

Chris Law: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when his Department plans to provide the Energy Bill Support Scheme discount to heat network customers in domestic households who use the same billing agent for both heat and electricity.

Graham Stuart: If a heat network customer has a domestic electricity meter, they should already be in receipt of the Energy Bills Support Scheme. If a customer does not have a domestic electricity meter or a direct relationship with an electricity supplier, the Energy Bill Support Scheme Alternative Funding will provide a £400 support for energy bills. Eligibility, timescales and method of delivery will be announced shortly.

Energy Bills Rebate: District Heating

Chris Law: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when heat network customers in domestic households will begin to receive the £400 Energy Bills Support Scheme discount.

Graham Stuart: If a heat network customer has a domestic electricity meter, they should already be in receipt of the Energy Bills Support Scheme. If a customer does not have a domestic electricity meter or a direct relationship with an electricity supplier, the Energy Bill Support Scheme Alternative Funding will provide a £400 support for energy bills. Eligibility and timescales will be announced shortly.

Energy Bill Relief Scheme: Post Offices

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of extending support for Post Office branches under the Energy Bill Relief Scheme past March 2023.

Graham Stuart: HM Treasury is conducting a review of the Energy Bill Relief Scheme to inform decisions on future support after March 2023.

Housing: Washington and Sunderland West

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make an estimate of the number of homes that have had solar power panels installed in Washington and Sunderland West constituency as of 31 October 2022.

Graham Stuart: At the end of October 2022, there were 4,064 domestic installations of solar panels recorded in Washington and Sunderland West constituency.

Housing: Washington and Sunderland West

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make an estimate of the number of homes that have had heat pumps installed in Washington and Sunderland West constituency as of 31 October 2022.

Graham Stuart: The Microgeneration Certification Scheme Installations Database shows that as of 31 October 2022, 55 heat pump installations were registered in the Washington and Sunderland West constituency. The database does not include all heat pump installations, for example, those installed without Government funding support, such as in new buildings, which are not typically recorded in the Microgeneration Certification Scheme Installations Database.

Housing: Washington and Sunderland West

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make an estimate of the number of homes with cavity walls that have been insulated in Washington and Sunderland West constituency as of 31 October 2022.

Graham Stuart: BEIS estimates that under the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) and Green Homes Grant (GHG) Government schemes, around 1,100 cavity wall insulation measures have been installed in Washington and Sunderland West constituency as at end of September 2022.

Business: Energy

Alun Cairns: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what support his Department plans to provide to off-grid businesses on increased energy costs.

Graham Stuart: The Government has announced the Non-Domestic Alternative Fuel Payment Scheme, which will provide off-grid businesses and non-domestic consumers using alternative fuels in Great Britain and Northern Ireland with a one-off fixed payment of £150 through electricity suppliers. In addition to the £150, a top up payment will be available for large users of heating oil (kerosene) to take account of their higher usage. These top-up payments will require an application to a delivery body and will be banded based on level of usage.

Energy: Prices

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he is taking further steps to support businesses in response to increases to the energy price cap.

Graham Stuart: The Energy Bill Relief Scheme (EBRS) provides a price reduction to ensure that all eligible businesses are protected from excessively high energy bills over the winter period. The scheme applies to energy usage from 1 October 2022 to 31 March 2023. HM Treasury is conducting a review into additional support that could be made available from April 2023, following the end of the EBRS. Any support for businesses will be targeted to those most affected by high energy prices. Continuing support to those deemed eligible would begin at the end of the initial 6-month support scheme.

Hydrogen: Production

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to increase the production of low-carbon hydrogen in the UK.

Graham Stuart: The Government has doubled its ambition to up to 10GW of low carbon hydrogen production capacity by 2030, subject to affordability and value for money. The Government's increased ambition will drive significant private sector investment, delivered by a strong investable proposition through the Hydrogen Production Business Model, which will help to address the key barrier to deployment, the cost gap compared to fossil fuels. The Net Zero Hydrogen Fund will also provide up to £240 million to 2025 to support the development and construction of new low carbon hydrogen production plants.

Hydrogen: Production

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities on the preparedness of the planning system for the development of green hydrogen production facilities.

Graham Stuart: Officials are working to ensure the planning system is optimised to support the development of a rapidly expanding UK hydrogen economy. This includes through the BEIS Hydrogen Regulators Forum and bilateral engagement. The Government will continue to work with industry and regulators to identify, prioritise and implement any changes to the existing framework, including addressing any gaps, to support the growth of the hydrogen economy. BEIS recently consulted on the optimality of existing planning arrangements through a consultation on hydrogen transport and storage infrastructure business models and regulation, and is currently reviewing the submitted responses.

Energy: Meters

Anne McLaughlin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 8 December to Question 102949 on Energy: Meters, how many warrants have been issued to move non-smart meter energy customers to pre-payment meters in the UK since 1 January 2022.

Graham Stuart: Ofgem does not hold this data for 2022 yet. The Government expects to receive the data in Q1 2023.

Energy: Meters

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of trends in the number of forcible prepayment meter installations on the smart meter rollout.

Graham Stuart: The smart meter rollout continues to make good progress, with 54% of energy meters now smart and continued strong levels of consumer demand. The independent regulator, Ofgem, is responsible for ensuring suppliers comply with clear regulatory obligations on switching meters from credit to prepayment mode, which apply whether a meter is smart or traditional. This includes specific protections for vulnerable consumers and those in payment difficulty. Prepayment customers see particular benefits from smart meters, which enable consumers to top-up remotely and track their balance easily, so they do not unknowingly run out of credit.

Energy: Meters

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of trends in the number of forcible prepayment meter installations on levels of fuel poverty.

Graham Stuart: Data on fuel poverty and payment methods is published in the Fuel Poverty detailed tables 2022 at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fuel-poverty-detailed-tables-2022. The next statistics will be published in early 2023. Ofgem rules require suppliers to ensure prepayment meters are only installed if it is ‘safe and reasonably practicable’ to do so, and there are strong regulatory protections in place to support prepayment meter customers.

Energy: Meters

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of trends in the number of forcible prepayment meter installations on household debt levels.

Graham Stuart: The energy regulator Ofgem has rules in place that restrict the force-fitting of a prepayment meter on customers who are in debt, except as a last resort. Prepayment meters can help reduce the risk of customers entering, or exacerbating, debt. Ofgem rules require energy suppliers to only offer a prepayment service where it is safe and reasonably practicable to do so.

Green Deal Scheme

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many Green Deal projects are classified as live as of 8 December 2022.

Graham Stuart: Information on the cumulative number of Green Deal plans can be found in table 7.1 accompanying the latest Household Energy Efficiency Statistics, headline release.

Rented Housing: Energy

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions has he had with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Levelling Up on enforcing the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards across the rented housing sector.

Graham Stuart: BEIS Ministers regularly meet with colleagues to discuss matters that fall under their portfolios. To date, the Department has made available a total of £8.4m for compliance and the enforcement of the existing private rented sector minimum energy efficiency standard regulations. In addition, the Government has so far committed over £1bn for improving the energy performance of social rented homes and will consult on improving the energy efficiency of social housing within 6 months of the Social Housing Regulation Bill receiving Royal Assent. BEIS and DLUHC officials will work together to develop this consultation.

North Sea Oil: Shetland

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of rejecting proposals to develop the Rosebank oil field in favour of investment of renewable, reliable, and affordable energy sources.

Graham Stuart: Development proposals for oil fields are dealt with by the North Sea Transition Authority and the Offshore Petroleum Regulator for Environment and Decommissioning, in line with their regulatory responsibilities. Development of oil, gas and renewables projects are not mutually exclusive. In the British Energy Security Strategy the Government highlighted the ongoing requirement for oil and gas – for heating, cooking, transport, and industries – and the need to develop affordable, renewable energy sources to ensure the UK's domestic energy security.

Energy Bills Rebate: Expenditure

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of total spending on the Energy Bill Support Scheme in (a) England, (b) the West Midlands, (c) Birmingham.

Graham Stuart: The Energy Bills Support Scheme is an £11.7bn scheme which forms part of the £37bn cost-of-living assistance package announced in May 2022. The Department will publish location data shortly.

Energy Bills Rebate

Shabana Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the mechanism for energy companies passing on Energy Bill Support Scheme payments to their customers.

Graham Stuart: The Energy Bills Support Scheme is delivering, via suppliers, a £400 non-repayable government discount in six instalments from October to March to help with energy bills this winter. 29 million households in GB are eligible. The Government is closely monitoring the scheme’s delivery and requires suppliers to report to Government monthly. Most recent data shows 97% of the payments due have gone out.

Environment Protection: Job Creation

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of green jobs in Newcastle Central constituency.

Graham Stuart: The Government is providing significant investment for the offshore renewable and electric vehicle industries across North East England. The Getting Building Fund is supporting construction of Equinor's new Operations and Maintenance base at the Port of Tyne, which will serve the world’s biggest offshore wind farm at Dogger Bank. This is expected to generate over 200 direct jobs in the region. Construction has started this week on EV 36 Zero – a new £1 billion Electric Vehicle Hub near to Nissan’s Sunderland plant, with significant support coming from the Government, which will create around 1,000 jobs.

Energy: Meters

Dr Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment he has made of the impact of (a) moving people onto prepayment meters against their will and (b) cutting off energy supply (i) unilaterally and (ii) remotely on (A) elderly, (B) impoverished and (C) other vulnerable people; what recent discussions he has had with energy companies on the impact of these practices; whether his Department is taking steps to protect people from these practices; and if he will make a statement.

Graham Stuart: Ofgem has rules in place that restrict the force-fitting of a prepayment meter on customers who are in debt, except as a last resort. Ofgem also has rules to protect consumers from the risk of disconnection, in particular preventing suppliers from directly disconnecting consumers between November and April.On the impact of suppliers cutting off supply, between Q3 2021 and Q2 2022, suppliers directly disconnected 3 gas accounts and 19 electricity accounts according to Ofgem data. Neither the Government, nor Ofgem hold more detailed data on the recent impact of disconnections, or pre-payment installations and switches, on the groups listed.

Energy: Charities

Sir Peter Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions his Department has had with (a) Scouts UK and (b) other charities on increased energy costs; and what steps he is taking to support those organisations with those costs.

Graham Stuart: Discussions have taken place with a number of charities regarding increased energy costs. The Government is fully aware of the impact this is having on the voluntary sector. This is why the Energy Bill Relief Scheme has been introduced, with legislation coming into force on 1 November, shielding charities across the United Kingdom from soaring energy prices and saving some around half of their wholesale energy costs. The scheme applies to energy usage from 1 October 2022 for an initial 6-month period.

Energy Price Guarantee

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the current mechanism for calculating of the energy price cap by Ofgem.

Graham Stuart: As the expert independent regulator, Ofgem is responsible for operating the price cap. Ofgem remains the sole decision-maker over how it is calculated and has consulted extensively on its methodology for determining the cap level. The Government has confidence in Ofgem, as the expert independent regulator, to set the cap at a level that reflects the underlying efficient costs of supplying energy.

Housing: Leeds North West

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate his Department has made of how many homes in Leeds North West constituency had solar power panels installed as of 31 October 2022.

Graham Stuart: At the end of October 2022, there were 990 domestic installations of solar panels recorded in Leeds North West constituency.

Environment Protection: Job Creation

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department is taking steps to increase the number of green jobs in Leeds North West constituency.

Graham Stuart: Since the launch of the Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution in November 2020, an estimated 68,000 jobs have been supported nationally. This forms part of the around 430,000 jobs in low carbon businesses and their supply chains across the country. Leeds North West benefits from several streams of devolved funding through the West Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority, including £38m per annum to support local priorities including Green Growth. In addition to this locally determined investment, Government has provided £238,000 through the Community Renewal Fund, to help build the pipeline of talent and green skills in West Yorkshire.

Environment Protection: Job Creation

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the Government’s Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution, published on 18 November 2020, how many jobs have been created in Leeds North West constituency as a result of the implementation of that plan.

Graham Stuart: The Government does not collect Green Jobs data at constituency level. Since the launch of the Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution in November 2020 an estimated 68,000 jobs have been supported nationally. This forms part of the around 430,000 jobs in low carbon businesses and their supply chains across the country. Leeds North West benefits from several streams of devolved funding through the West Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority, including £38m per annum to support local priorities including Green Growth. In addition to this locally determined investment, Government has provided £238,000 through the Community Renewal Fund, to help build the pipeline of talent and green skills in West Yorkshire.

Renewable Energy: Leeds North West

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he plans to increase funding for renewable energy sources in Leeds North West constituency.

Graham Stuart: Grant funding for renewable innovation or community-based renewable schemes is open for both local authorities and private investors to bid. The Contract for Difference scheme, the Government’s main mechanism for supporting low carbon generation, is awarded through a competitive process, ensuring that the most cost-effective projects are supported regardless of their location.

Energy Bill Relief Scheme: Leeds North West

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that small and medium-sized enterprises are receiving the correct level of support from the Energy Bill Relief Scheme in Leeds North West constituency.

Graham Stuart: The Energy Bill Relief Scheme is set out clearly in legislation so will be applied in a uniform way by all licensed suppliers. The regulations include a robust compliance and enforcement regime to ensure requirements are being met. Suppliers are also required to inform customers about the details of support, including the amount of the discount and discounted supply price.

Energy: Meters

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has had with (a) Citizens Advice and (b) the End Fuel Poverty Coalition on forcible prepayment meter installations; and whether he has made an assessment of the implications for his Department's policies of trends in the numbers of forcible instillations.

Graham Stuart: BEIS Ministers and officials meet regularly with stakeholders to discuss a range of issues relating to the energy retail market. The energy regulator Ofgem has rules in place that restrict the force-fitting of a prepayment meter on customers who are in debt, except as a last resort.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Departmental Responsibilities

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 24 November 2022 to Question 82299 on Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Departmental Responsibilities, for what reason there are differences in the roles and responsibilities between the Minister for Investment and Minister for Investment Security.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The Minister for Investment Security, my noble Friend Lord Johnson of Lainston, and my roles are based in different departments and have different responsibilities in line with their departmental remits. Details of our respective portfolios can be found here:https://www.gov.uk/government/ministers/minister-of-state-minister-for-industry-and-investment-security;https://www.gov.uk/government/ministers/minister-of-state--103.

Newport Wafer Fab: Nexperia

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what process his Department followed to prepare the national security assessment prior to the Newport Wafer Fab divestment decision; and what evidence his Department received as part of that process.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy takes decisions under the National Security and Investment Act 2021 in a quasi-judicial capacity. The Investment Security Unit coordinates expertise from across Government so that the Secretary of State may make decisions based on the evidence. It would not be appropriate to comment on the detail of national security assessments.

Northern Ireland Office

International Fund for Ireland

Carla Lockhart: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how much financial support the Government has provided to the International Fund for Ireland in each of the last three years.

Mr Steve Baker: The Northern Ireland Office and the International Fund for Ireland separately publish Annual Reports and Accounts, including audited financial statements. I would refer the honourable Lady to those resources for the information she requires.

Northern Ireland: Elections

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, with reference to his oral contribution of 9 November 2022, Official Report, column 281, on Northern Ireland Elections, what plans he has to convene all-party talks with Northern Ireland party leaders to discuss (a) restoring the Executive and (b) progress on Northern Ireland Protocol negotiations.

Chris Heaton-Harris: This Government remains absolutely committed to the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement. The Minister of State and I continue to meet regularly with the Northern Ireland political parties to deliver its vision. All-party talks took place on 15 December.

Public Expenditure: Northern Ireland

Stephen Farry: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of allocating the £250m that the Executive is permitted to borrow over the short-term for cash-management purposes to manage in year pressures within the Northern Ireland Budget for 2022-23.

Chris Heaton-Harris: I have worked closely with the Chief Secretary to the Treasury to explore the available funding options in setting the Northern Ireland Budget for 2022-23, including Executive borrowing. The budget set in my statement on 24 November is an appropriate settlement that reflects the key pressures in Northern Ireland but it does not remove the pressing need to have locally accountable political leaders in place to take the fundamental decisions which will secure a more sustainable future for the people of Northern Ireland.

Craigavon House: Repairs and Maintenance

Carla Lockhart: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps the Government is taking to help support the restoration of Craigavon House.

Mr Steve Baker: Under the UK Government commitments to promote Northern Ireland's Culture, Heritage and Society we committed to explore projects including the restoration of Craigavon House. The government remain committed to support conversations on the future of Craigavon House should a suitable plan be forthcoming on its future and restoration.

Northern Ireland Office: Trade

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many staff in his Department have been allocated to deal with issues related to international trade in (a) each of the past five years and (b) the next two years; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Steve Baker: Matters related to international trade policy and Free Trade Agreements are dealt with within the Protocol and Free Trade Agreement team in my Department, which currently numbers 5 posts. Others within the department also provide support on Northern Ireland trade-related matters. The resource dedicated to this activity is expected to continue at current levels for the next financial year.

Department of Health and Social Care

Protective Clothing: Contracts

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much his Department has recovered from fraudulent personal protective equipment contracts as of 12 December 2022.

Will Quince: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Ambulance Services: Military Aid

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether it is her Department's policy that army personnel operating civilian ambulances in an emergency will be exempted from (a) stopping at red lights and (b) adhering to the speed limit.

Will Quince: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Epidermolysis Bullosa: Medical Treatments and Research

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to increase funding for research into new drugs and treatments for epidermolysis bullosa.

Helen Whately: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Public Health: Finance

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to set out the amounts of public health grants to local authorities.

Neil O'Brien: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Antibiotics: Production

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many facilities producing (a) generic and (b) speciality antibiotics there are in the UK.

Will Quince: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Influenza: Vaccination

Mrs Paulette Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that people living with a severe mental illness are able to receive a flu vaccination in winter 2022-23.

Maria Caulfield: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Respiratory System: Infectious Diseases

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to ensure continued availability of rapid PCR testing to help control respiratory infections in winter 2022-23.

Maria Caulfield: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Health Protection (Coronavirus, Testing Requirements and Standards) (England) Regulations 2020

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to retain The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Testing Requirements and Standards) (England) Regulations 2020.

Maria Caulfield: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Allergies: Health Services

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to publish guidance on fragrance free (a) health centres and (b) hospitals to help support people with (i) allergies and (ii) breathing difficulties.

Will Quince: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Hormone Replacement Therapy

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment has he made of the adequacy of the availability of hormone replacement therapy.

Maria Caulfield: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Penicillin

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what stocks of (a) amoxicillin and (b) penicillin were held as of 1 December 2022.

Will Quince: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Cancer: Radioisotopes

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure NHS cancer services have supplies of the isotopes used in the detection and measurement of cancer spread, following mechanical failures at the SCK CEN nuclear plant in Belgium.

Helen Whately: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has taken recent steps to increase public awareness of (i) Crohn's disease and (ii) ulcerative colitis.

Helen Whately: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has taken recent steps to help improve the (a) diagnosis and (b) treatment of (i) Crohn's disease and (ii) ulcerative colitis.

Helen Whately: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Maternity Services: Staff

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the (a) comprehensiveness and (b) adequacy of the figures he holds on the number of maternity support workers in the NHS in England.

Will Quince: No specific assessment on the comprehensiveness of data for maternity support workers has been made. NHS Digital publishes Hospital and Community Health Services workforce statistics for England. These include staff working in hospital trusts and integrated care. This data is drawn from the Electronic Staff Record, the HR system for National Health Services (NHS) providers. Responsibility for data accuracy lies with organisations providing the data.  The data held and published are an accurate summary of the validated data extracted from the NHS HR and Payroll system. Data quality is monitored by NHS Digital, NHS Business Services Authority and NHS trusts themselves. NHS Digital seeks to minimise inaccuracies and the effect of missing and invalid data but responsibility for data accuracy lies with organisations providing the data. NHS England have provided funding to maternity services to support the recruitment of Maternity Support Workers (MSW) and to offer enhanced education support to align them with the Health Education England MSW competency, education, and career development framework. To increase the maternity workforce, from 2022, an additional £127 million is being invested by NHS England which will go towards the maternity NHS workforce and improving neonatal care. This is on top of the £95 million invested in 2021, to fund the establishment of posts for 1,200 more midwives and 100 more consultant obstetricians.

Home Care Services: Fuels

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he is taking steps with Cabinet colleagues to support home care workers using their own vehicles to visit clients with fuel costs.

Will Quince: Home care workers may be eligible to benefit from Approved Mileage Allowance Payments (AMAPs), which are used by employers to reimburse an employee’s expenses for business mileage in their private vehicle. These rates aim to reflect running costs including fuel, servicing and depreciation.Employers do not have to use AMAP rates and can instead choose to reimburse more or less, subject to certain tax conditions. Employees who receive less than the advisory rate can claim tax relief on the difference.

General Practitioners

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of general practice appointments were carried out by (a) GPs in face-to-face consultations and (b) non-GPs in each of the last five years.

Neil O'Brien: The following table shows the available data from January to October 2022 and August to December 2021 on the number and proportion of appointments conducted face-to-face by general practitioners (GPs), excluding COVID-19 vaccinations.January to October 2022August to December 2021Number of face-to-face appointments with GPs72,510,02033,609,864Percentage of face-to-face appointments with GPs54.5%49.0% The following table shows the number and proportion of appointments undertaken by non-GP staff in general practices in England, excluding COVID-19 vaccinations since 2018. January to October 20222021202020192018Number of appointments128.87 million141.27 million125.31 million138.03 million131.46 millionProportion of appointments47.5%45.4%45.3%45.4%45.6%

General Food Regulations 2004

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Retained EU Law Bill, whether he plans has to (a) retain, (b) replace and (c) revoke the General Food Regulations 2004.

Neil O'Brien: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 8 December 2022 to Question 102910.

Dental Services

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to enable people who are ordinarily resident in England to have access to an NHS dental check-up and relevant treatment by the end of March 2024.

Neil O'Brien: In September, we announced ‘Our plan for patients’, which outlines how we will meet oral health needs and increase access to dental care. The plan includes improvements to ensure dentists are renumerated fairly for more complex work, allowing greater flexibility to reallocate resources and to utilise dentists with greater capacity to deliver National Health Service treatment, whilst enabling full use of the dental team. We have also enabled greater flexibility in commissioning NHS dentistry and ensuring patients can access current information on NHS dental services through NHS.UK and NHS 111. These changes have been implemented through regulations which came into effect on 25 November. NHS England has published additional guidance for dentists and commissioners on these measures. NHS England is continuing discussions on further improvements involving the British Dental Association and other stakeholders and additional reforms are planned in 2023.

Dentistry

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish a dentistry workforce strategy.

Neil O'Brien: The Department has commissioned NHS England to develop a long-term plan for key workforce groups and professions across the NHS for the next 15 years, including dental care professionals. The conclusions of this work will be shared in due course.With the changes announced to the National Health Service Dental Contract Reform in July, we are making improvements to the NHS dental system for patients to get the care they need. This includes new legislation that came into force in November, which more fairly remunerates dentists caring for patients with complex needs and makes the NHS dental contract more attractive to dentists.We are also working with NHS England and the sector on longer-term improvements. Health Education England have undertaken a three-year Advancing Dental Care Review of education and training which they are now implementing through their Dental Education Reform Programme to improve recruitment and retention.

Sickle Cell Diseases

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reason nutrition is not included in Sickle Cell health care protocols.

Neil O'Brien: There is little evidence in support of any specific nutritional intervention that ameliorates Sickle Cell symptoms. It is recommended that generic good nutritional advice is given to all patients with Sickle Cell Disease, including vitamin D supplementation.

Integrated Care Boards: Finance

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help ensure that Integrated care boards are adequately funded to fulfil their responsibility for reducing health inequalities.

Neil O'Brien: We are investing an additional £3.3 billion in 2023/24 and 2024/25 to support the National Health Service in England, with £2.8 billion and £4.7 billion for adult social care over the next two years. Integrated care boards (ICBs) will determine how these resources will be distributed to address local priorities. To support transition to the new ICBs from the predecessor clinical commissioning group (CCG) structure, NHS England has disaggregated allocations to CCG level, in line with the share of the weighted population of the ICB.

Sickle Cell Diseases

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has taken recent steps to ensure that sickle cell patients receive their first dose of pain relief within 30 minutes of being treated.

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of simplifying the administration of pain relief for sickle cell patients.

Neil O'Brien: No specific assessment has been made. Specialist haemoglobinopathy teams (SHTs) and haemoglobinopathy co-ordinating centres (HCCs) are required to submit data via the Specialised Services Quality Dashboard on the percentage of patients given pain relief within 30 minutes of presentation with a sickle cell crisis, as per the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines. The data does not include patients attending non-specialist haemoglobinopathy providers and further work is required to improve the accuracy of the data submission before it can be used to assess compliance.

HIV Infection: Blackpool

Scott Benton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding his Department has provided to Blackpool to help (a) reduce and (b) detect HIV infections, including on a new opt-out testing programme at Blackpool Victoria Hospital.

Neil O'Brien: NHS England will invest £20 million over the next three years to expand opt-out testing in emergency departments in the highest prevalence local authority areas, including Blackpool.Since 2013 the Government has mandated local authorities in England to commission comprehensive open access to most sexual and reproductive health services, including free and confidential HIV testing through the Public Health Grant. In 2021/22, the Public Health Grant was adjusted to include the cost of financing pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), which reduces the risk of acquiring HIV infection. Blackpool received £18,705,648, of which £69,525 was allocated to PrEP provision. Funding for PrEP is now included within the Public Health Grant and embedded within its baseline for 2022/23. In 2022/23 Blackpool has been allocated £19,231,130.

York Hospital: Paediatrics

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Children's Assessment and Treatment Unit at York Hospital on supporting children presenting with respiratory disease, including Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of York's Paediatric respiratory unit's approach in tackling health emergencies in winter 2022-23.

Neil O'Brien: No assessment has been made.

Blood: Donors

Sir Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether blood donations from people who have not been vaccinated against covid-19 are separately identified; and whether people who require such blood are able to access it.

Neil O'Brien: In the United Kingdom, blood donations are not identified based on the donor’s COVID-19 vaccination status. The Joint United Kingdom Blood Transfusion and Tissue Transplantation Services Professional Advisory Committee (JPAC) provide guidelines for the UK Blood Transfusion Services. JPAC published a position statement in July 2021, which was updated in November 2022, outlining that UK Blood Services cannot provide information about the COVID-19 vaccine status of donors to recipients and that this is not necessary from a safety or efficacy perspective.

Pharmacy: Closures

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of community pharmacy closures on patients.

Neil O'Brien: With NHS England, we are monitoring the market and the impact on patient access to pharmaceutical services. An estimated 80% of the population lives within 20 minutes’ walk of a community pharmacy and there are double the number of pharmacies in more deprived areas. There are over 11,000 community pharmacies in England and the Pharmacy Access Scheme provides additional funding for areas where there are fewer pharmacies.

Obesity

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 24 November to Question 87788 on Obesity, why no such meetings have taken place.

Neil O'Brien: Ministers hold meetings on a range of issues relating to health and social care, including health prevention.

Ambulance Services: Standards

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many ambulance services were at Level Four in the Resource Escalation Action Plan in England as of 8 December 2022.

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of only having four levels in the Resource Escalation Action Plan.

Will Quince: As of 8 December 2022, 10 out of the 11 Ambulance Trusts in England were at level four in the Resources Escalation Action Plan (REAP). No assessment has been made. REAP is a National Health Service operational framework, and the four REAP levels correspond to OPEL (Operational Pressures Escalation Levels) used by other NHS organisations. They provide a framework to maintain an effective and safe operational and clinical response for patients.

Health: Females

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to page 66 of the Women's Health Strategy for England published on 30 August 2022, what steps has his Department taken to encourage research on the relationship between menstruation and (a) Covid-19 and (b) long Covid.

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to page 66 of the Women's Health Strategy for England, published on 30 August 2022, what steps his Department has taken to encourage research on links between mental health symptoms and outcomes and (a) menstruation and (b) gynaecological conditions.

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to page 66 of the Women’s Health Strategy for England, published in August 2022, what steps has his Department taken to encourage research on the links between polycystic ovary syndrome and metabolic syndrome.

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to page 66 of the Women’s Health Strategy for England, published in August 2022, what steps his Department has taken to encourage research on the causes of fibroids.

Will Quince: The Department commissions research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). Subject to receiving high quality applications, the NIHR expects to commission a new policy research unit dedicated to reproductive health. The new unit will undertake research to inform policy in areas such as menstruation and gynaecological conditions. Applications are currently being reviewed and the unit is expected to operate from January 2024. While the NIHR has funded research on menstruation, gynaecological conditions, COVID-19, the long term effects of COVID-19 infection, mental health and the treatment of fibroids, no specific research on the relationship between these conditions has been commissioned. The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health. Applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards made based on the importance to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality. It is not usual practice for the NIHR to ring-fence a proportion of its budget for research into particular topics or conditions.

NHS: Protective Clothing

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 9 November to Question 59768 on Protective Clothing: Storage, what is the (a) weekly and (b) daily cost of storing personal protective equipment in the containers.

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 9 November 2022 to Question 77440 on NHS: Protective Clothing, what the (a) weekly and (b) daily cost was of the storage of personal protective equipment in these warehouses in the latest period for which data is available.

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much and what proportion of the Government's supply of personal protective equipment is stored in (a) warehouses and (b) shipping containers as of 6 December 2022.

Will Quince: Since this unprecedented global pandemic began our absolute priority has been saving lives. Our estimates of demand for essential personal protective equipment (PPE) relied on reasonable worst-case scenario planning, information about the prevailing Infection Prevention Control guidance and the likely number of patient interactions in every healthcare setting. In this reasonable worst case, we needed to purchase significant amounts of PPE and there was significant pressure on Government to act quickly and decisively. As a result, from April to October 2022, the estimated weekly cost of storage in containers was £1.8 million and the estimated daily cost was £253,000. In the same period, the estimated weekly cost of storage in warehouses in the United Kingdom was £2.6 million and the estimated daily cost was £371,000. On 31 October 2022, there were 7.9 billion items of PPE or 60.1% stored in warehouses. There were 4.4 billion items of PPE or 33.7% stored in containers and 810 million items or 6.2% stored in supplier storage. Supplier storage includes the use of warehouses and containers. We are currently reducing excess stock, including the cost of storage in all settings and further information will be available in due course.

Dementia: Health Services

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the timetable is for the publication of the 10-year plan for dementia.

Helen Whately: We are reviewing plans for dementia in England and further information will be available in due course.

Dementia: Health Services

Mrs Paulette Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure the 10-year plan for dementia will increase dementia diagnosis rates in (a) England and (b) Birmingham, Erdington constituency.

Helen Whately: We are reviewing plans for dementia in England and further information will be available in due course.

Dementia: York

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of access to brain scans to assist in the diagnosis of dementia in York.

Helen Whately: We have no current plans to make a specific assessment.

Cancer: North West

Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the waiting time is for cancer patients to see a cancer specialist in the Cheshire and Merseyside ICS area after referral by a GP.

Helen Whately: This information is not collected in the format requested. However, in October 2022, 10,064 of the 13,459 patients had their first consultant appointment within 14 days following an urgent general practitioner referral in the Cheshire and Merseyside integrated care board.

Genito-urinary Medicine

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Women's Health Strategy for England published on 30 August 2022, when he plans to publish the sexual and reproductive health plan; and if the plan will include a timetable for delivery of its recommendations.

Neil O'Brien: We will set out plans to improve sexual and reproductive health in England in due course.

Cystic Fibrosis: Drugs

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will make an estimate of the number of people who require medication for cystic fibrosis who are not able to afford it.

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the scope of the prescription charge exemption list in the context of the cost of living; and if he will make a statement.

Neil O'Brien: There are no plans to make a specific assessment. Approximately 89% of prescription items are currently dispensed free of charge and there are a range of exemptions from prescription charges which those with cystic fibrosis may be eligible for and be in receipt of free prescriptions. In 2022/23, prescription charges have been frozen, which applies to the single prescription charge and prescription pre-payment certificates.

Dental Services: Contracts

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he expects negotiations on a new NHS dental contract to conclude.

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to roll out a reformed NHS dental contract.

Neil O'Brien: Initial negotiations on improvements to the National Health Service dental contract concluded in June 2022. On 25 November 2022, three sub-bands to Band 2 NHS dental treatment were created, which more fairly remunerates NHS dentists for more complex dental treatment without affecting patient charges. We are also ensuring that NHS dentists update practice profiles on NHS.UK at least every 90 days. Further changes to the contract as a result of these negotiations will come into force in the coming months. We are working with NHS England and the dental sector on further improvements to NHS dentistry, considering new payment models and encouraging dentists to work in areas of need. Further improvements will be announced in 2023.

Dental Health: Disadvantaged

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce oral health inequality.

Neil O'Brien: The Department of Health and Social Care is taking a number of steps to reduce oral health inequalities. We announced that we will consult on water fluoridation expansion across the North East which would extend water fluoridation to up to 1.6 million additional individuals. We also announced a package of improvements to the NHS dental system in July 2022 and set out further detail on this in ‘Our plan for patients’, to improve access and better target care for patients with higher oral health needs and we are taking measures to reduce sugar consumption, such as the sugar levy. The Department has published a number of resources to support local authorities in assessing and improving the oral health of children and vulnerable older people and is working locally with local authorities on this. These can be viewed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/oral-health

Dental Services: Children

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the findings of the review of research on Orthodontic treatment for crowded teeth in children by Sarah Turner and others, published in December 2021; and how much his Department has spent on NHS orthodontic treatments to (a) prevent and (b) correct crowded teeth in children in the last year.

Neil O'Brien: Emerging clinical findings are reviewed by the Chief Dental Officer for England supported by specialty consultant and National Health Service clinical advisors. Where evidence indicates that amendments to NHS clinical standards are required, advice is provided by the Chief Dental Officer with guidance to NHS England on implementation and compliance with any changes in clinical procedure. In 2021/22, NHS England spent approximately £250 million on NHS orthodontic activity, including assessments and treatments.

Medical Records: Children

Andrea Leadsom: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent progress his Department and the NHS have made on plans to produce a digital version of the red book as outlined in the NHS Long Term Plan published in January 2019.

Neil O'Brien: We are working with NHS England to ensure that plans for digitising the red book align with plans for patient records. Further information will be available in due course.

Health Services: Travellers

Ian Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he is taking steps to ensure that his Department's data collection records the experiences of people from Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller backgrounds.

Neil O'Brien: The NHS Data Model and Dictionary reflects the latest approved Information Standard for the data submission of ethnicity categories in the National Health Service. This is derived from the Office for National Statistics’ categories in 2001, which do not include Gypsy/Romany Gypsy, Roma, and Irish Traveller groupings. The annual GP Patient Survey assesses patients' experience of general practice and dentistry in England. It collects ethnicity information, including coding for ‘Roma’ and ‘Gypsy or Irish Traveller’ respondents. In the 2022 survey, NHS England received 719,137 responses and of those, 596 were from Roma and 279 were from Gypsy or Irish Traveller respondents.

Blood: Donors

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the NHS Blood and Transplant’s campaign Not Family, But Blood campaign in encouraging more blood donors of black heritage.

Neil O'Brien: Since the launch of the ‘Not family, but blood’ campaign on 6 October 2022, 6,658 new donors of Black heritage have registered to give blood. This represents a 178% increase in new registrations from donors of Black heritage when comparing daily registrations, 106, with the prior 63 days, 38.

Carers

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 7 December 2022 to Question 105539, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing training for NHS frontline staff to (a) identify, (b) signpost and (c) support unpaid carers.

Will Quince: We have no current plans to make a specific assessment.

Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust: Staff

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of staffing levels within Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust.

Will Quince: No specific assessment has been made. Staffing levels are determined locally and are informed by national guidance for safe staffing.

Wales Office

Wales Office: Trade

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, how many staff in his Department have been allocated to deal with issues related to international trade in (a) each of the past five years and (b) the next two years; and if he will make a statement.

David T C  Davies: The number of staff allocated to deal with issues related to international trade at the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales in each of the last five years is set out below: Financial year No. of staff allocated2017/1822018/1932019/2022020/2122021/222 The Department currently has 2 members of staff allocated to deal with issues related to international trade and has no plans to change this allocation in the next two years.

Department for Education

Academies: Reviews

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to publish the Academies regulation and commissioning review; and if she will make a statement.

Nick Gibb: The report of the Academies Regulation and Commissioning Review will be published in 2023.

Department for Education: Theft

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many of her Department's (a) laptops, (b) mobile phones, (c) memory sticks and (d) external hard drives have been lost or stolen in each of the last five years.

Nick Gibb: The following table includes the number of lost and/or stolen devices in the Department in the last five years.  20182019202020212022Laptops6642251624Mobile phones10583513839Memory sticks03151External hard drivesN/AN/AN/AN/AN/A All Department corporate IT is security encrypted. Any mobile device reported as lost is immediately and remotely deactivated and the contents deleted. The user account on any laptop reported as lost is immediately and remotely disabled. There has been no known data loss or compromise as a result of these losses.

Special Educational Needs

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that the forthcoming National SEND and Alternative Provision Improvement Plan will consider the whole journey of young people with SEND through a 0 to 25 system; what assessment she has made of the different needs and challenges of schools and FE colleges in supporting young people with SEND; and what steps is she taking to ensure these differing needs and challenges are reflected in that Plan.

Claire Coutinho: The Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Green Paper, published in March 2022, set out proposals for a single national SEND and AP system, from early years to adulthood. These proposals offer children and young people the opportunity to thrive, with access to the right support, so they can fulfil their potential and lead happy, healthy and productive adult lives.Throughout the 16-week consultation period, the department attended 175 events to listen to and engage with several thousand people, including children and young people of different ages. These conversations covered a broad range of sectors, including schools and further education colleges, to understand the challenges facing the system and to hear feedback on our proposals.The green paper consultation closed on 22 July 2022. The department is using the feedback received, along with continued engagement with the whole system, to inform the next stage of delivering improvements for children, young people and their families.The department is committed to publishing a full response to the green paper in an improvement plan early in 2023.

Sleep: Children

Mick Whitley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department has made any assessment of the potential merits of introducing a National Sleep Strategy including recommendations to help ensure all children have their own bed to sleep in.

Claire Coutinho: The department does not have policy responsibility for this area. Therefore, it has not carried out an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a National Sleep Strategy. The government provided a written response to a petition on the creation of a sleep strategy on 23 March 2022. The response can be found here: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/604509.

Schools: Energy

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, from which capital programmes the £500 million of repurposed capital funding for energy efficiency announced on 6 December 2022 comes.

Nick Gibb: The Department manages its capital budget throughout each financial year, so that any underspends that arise can be reprioritised to get the best value for money from available funding. The nature of large capital programmes means that programmes spend at different rates through any given year.The Department has chosen to prioritise capital underspends for the 2022/23 financial year on £500 million for schools and colleges to help improve energy efficiency. This is in addition to the £1.8 billion of condition funding already allocated this financial year to improve and maintain the school estate. This is also additional to the £1.5 billion funding in upgrading the further education (FE) college estate through the FE capital transformation programme, and the £150 million of capital funding following the announcement about the reclassification of the FE sector.This announcement does not mean that any programmes have had required funding removed, and existing programmes will continue as planned. The Department updates its annual budget via Parliament twice a year through the Main and Supplementary estimates process, which sets out the expected budget by area of spend.

State Education: Teachers

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many teachers in state schools in England did not have qualified teacher status in each year between 2010 and 2021.

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of teachers in state schools did not have qualified teacher status in each English local authority in each year between 2010 and 2021.

Nick Gibb: Qualified teacher status (QTS) is considered desirable for teachers in the majority of schools in England. In some schools, including academies, free schools and independent schools, QTS is not a legal requirement. Academies have a fundamental freedom to employ people who do not have QTS.The majority of teachers in all schools, including academies, have QTS and have undertaken initial teacher training. In the 2021/22 academic year, the latest data available, 12,551 full time equivalent (FTE) teachers did not have QTS, equivalent to 2.7% of teachers. This has fallen from 14,028 FTE teachers, equivalent to 3.2%, in the 2010/11 academic year. Teachers may be undertaking further qualifications during their employment to gain QTS.Information on the school workforce in England is published in the annual ‘School Workforce in England’ national statistics release at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england.The number and proportion of teachers that did and did not have QTS in each English Local Authority in each year between 2010 and 2021 is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/ff30c318-6321-4173-8669-08dad51ca1cc.

Education: Energy

Peter Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the early termination of energy contracts for education providers on the basis of assessments made by suppliers of the credit worthiness of those providers.

Nick Gibb: The Department does not hold information centrally about the status of each education provider’s energy contracts. Schools are autonomous and have the freedom to make their own buying decisions based on individual need and circumstances. Schools should conduct their own risk assessment against the specifics of their own contract with their energy supplier.​If a school needs help securing an energy contract, more information on buying guidance and procedures for schools is available online at: www.gov.uk/guidance/get-help-buying-for-schools.​​

Natural History: GCSE

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress he has made on (a) plans to develop a GCSE in Natural History and (b) that GCSE being taught in schools from 2025.

Nick Gibb: The Department plans to introduce a GCSE in Natural History, provided that it meets the requirements that apply to all GCSEs. Officials are currently working with the four exam boards, Ofqual, and two independent advisors, to deliver the new Natural History GCSE subject content.The Department intends to consult publicly on the draft subject content in 2023, and for first teaching to be available in schools from September 2025.

Prime Minister

Honours

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Prime Minister, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing minimum qualifying criteria for a Prime Minister's tenure in office regarding resignation honours lists.

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Prime Minister, what recent assessment he has made for the implications of his Department's policies of the effectiveness of the (a) the protocol and (b) the precedence of resignation honours lists.

Rishi Sunak: I refer the hon. Member to the answer of 26 October 2022, Official Report, House of Lords, HL2839.

Prime Minister: Staff

Patrick Grady: To ask the Prime Minister, if he will publish a list of post-holders and the dates of service of the Military Assistants to the Prime Minister since 2010.

Rishi Sunak: Military assistants are serving members of the Armed Forces, seconded to Downing Street. The release of their details is a matter for the Ministry of Defence.

Department for International Trade

Question

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what progress she has made on securing a free trade agreement with India.

Greg Hands: The Department for International Trade has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Department for International Trade: Maritime UK

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many hours officials in her Department have worked to (a) attend and (b) support the policy agenda of the National Council of Maritime UK since 2019-20 to date.

Andrew Bowie: The Department for International Trade has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Trade Agreements: Parliamentary Scrutiny

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of strengthening existing requirements under the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 for parliamentary (a) scrutiny and (b) debate on international trade deals.

Greg Hands: The Constitutional Reform and Governance Act (CRaG) provides an effective and robust framework for scrutiny of treaties that require ratification, including free trade agreements. Nevertheless, the Government has also in place a suite of enhanced transparency and scrutiny arrangements that go well beyond the statutory obligations of CRaG. The Government recognises the importance of Parliament being able to consider new free trade agreements, therefore a debate was held in Government time on 14 November to consider the Australia and New Zealand deals.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Eritrea: Journalism

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the welfare of Dawit Isaak and other journalists who were arrested in Eritrea in 2001.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: We are aware of the missing journalists, including the dual Swedish-Eritrean national Dawit Isaak, who disappeared in September 2001. Although there are no recent updates as to their current status and welfare, we frequently raise concerns about human rights with the Government of Eritrea. Eritrea consistently ranks towards the bottom of the World Press Freedom Index, with internal media operated by the state. Through our Embassy in Asmara and with international partners, we continue to call upon the Government of Eritrea to release all those who have been arbitrarily incarcerated for their freedom of expression, religious or political beliefs.

Development Aid

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make it his policy to support the United Nation’s appeal for $51.5 billion in aid funds for 2023.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The FCDO remains committed to prioritising and protecting funding for humanitarian crises, at a time when global need is escalating rapidly. This includes ongoing support for the United Nations and its global appeals. For example in 2022-23, we were one of the biggest donors to UN global appeals in Afghanistan and Somalia and made a significant contribution to the Yemen appeal. Beyond funding, the FCDO recently published its Humanitarian Framework which sets out how we will work to address and reduce humanitarian need, including by building partnerships to protect those most vulnerable, ensure those most in need receive assistance, and act early to anticipate and prevent crises.

Humanitarian Aid

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much funding his Department contributed to the G7 famine prevention and humanitarian crises compact in (a) 2021 and (b) 2022.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The Famine Prevention and Humanitarian Crises Compact was agreed during the UK's G7 Presidency, and we have provided our share of the $7 billion in humanitarian assistance to the countries one step from famine in 2021. We continue to deliver on our policy commitments in the Compact. For example, in October we partnered with G7 President Germany and the Risk-informed Early Action Partnership to co-host a donor event on Financing for Early and Anticipatory Action.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Bullying

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make an estimate of the number of staff who have been subject to (a) sexual harassment and (b) bullying in his Department in each year since 2018.

David Rutley: The Cabinet Office publishes results from the Civil Service People Survey on GOV.UK on behalf of all participating organisations in the survey. The findings include the proportion of staff responding to the survey who indicated to have been bullied and or harassed at work in the past 12 months (b) and, among those, whether they have been subject to sexual harassment (a). This would include sexual comments or jokes, unwelcome sexual advances, touching or assault.The figures from the 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021 Civil Service People Surveys can be found at:2021 results: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-service-people-survey-2021-results2020 results: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-service-people-survey-2020-results2019 results: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-service-people-survey-2019-results2018 results: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-service-people-survey-2018-resultsThe Civil Service has a zero tolerance approach to bullying, harassment and discrimination. Those found to be bullying, and/or harassing and/or discriminating against employees or customers can face disciplinary procedures including charges of gross misconduct leading to dismissal. Bullying, harassment and discrimination are in direct conflict with the Civil Service values of honesty, objectivity, impartiality and integrity. It is important that all employees feel respected and treated fairly within the workplace. Departments have their own HR policies and processes for reporting and resolving cases of bullying, harassment and discrimination.

Iran: Baha'i Faith

Ruth Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the trends in the level of the risk of persecution of the Baha'i people in Iran by authorities in that country.

David Rutley: The Baha'i community in Iran is systematically persecuted by the Iranian regime. Reports indicate that the regime has redoubled its repression over the last year with increasing expropriation of land, destruction of homes and detention of Baha'is.The persecution of religious minorities in Iran cannot be tolerated. The Minister for the Middle East and Human Rights, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad, made this clear in his statement of 5 August. The former Minister for Africa reiterated our commitment to holding Iran to account for its treatment of the Baha'i at the Westminster Hall debate of 11 October. The UK raised the Baha'i at the UN General Assembly (UNGA) Third Committee on 26 October and pressed for the inclusion of the Baha'i in the UNGA Resolution which passed on 16 November.

Kosovo: Serbia

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with representatives of the Kosovan government on tensions in the northern part of Kosovo and with Serbia.

Leo Docherty: The UK is in close contact with the governments of both Kosovo and Serbia, making clear alongside partners the need to dismantle roadblocks, avoid inflammatory rhetoric and de-escalate latest tensions. The Foreign Secretary is in touch with Kosovo's Prime Minister Kurti and raised recent tensions with the Serbian Ambassador. During my (the Minister for Europe) visits to Serbia on 14 December and Kosovo on 16 December, I underlined that the EU-facilitated Dialogue was key to achieving the long-term goal of normalised relations between Kosovo and Serbia.

China: Foreign Relations

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of China abiding to the terms of the Sino-British Joint Declaration.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: We have declared four breaches of the Sino-British Joint Declaration to date, three of which have occurred since 2020. These breaches include China's imposition of the National Security Law and changes to Hong Kong's electoral rules and system.Reflecting the size and scale of developments in Hong Kong, on 13 March the UK declared China to be in a state of ongoing non-compliance with the Sino-British Joint Declaration - a demonstration of the growing gulf between Beijing's promises and its actions.

Jimmy Lai

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he has taken to ensure British citizen, Jimmy Lai, has received regular consular access in Hong Kong.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: We remain concerned about the targeting of pro-democracy figures in Hong Kong, and are following these cases carefully. For data protection reasons I cannot share information about a person without their permission.Officials from the British Consulate-General in Hong Kong attend local court hearings related to a number of rights and freedoms issues and will continue to do so.We continue to make clear to mainland Chinese and Hong Kong authorities our strong opposition to the National Security Law, which is being used to curtail freedoms, punish dissent and shrink the space for opposition, free press and civil society.

South Africa: Just Energy Transition Partnership

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent steps his Department has taken to help support the implementation of the Just Energy Transition Partnership for South Africa.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: Significant progress has been made to deliver the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) for South Africa since it launched at COP26. The UK, as chair of the International Partners Group (IPG), has worked closely with the South African Government to support development of their JET Investment Plan which was released at COP27. The Investment Plan signals the start of the implementation phase of this ambitious partnership, and the process of crowding in additional public and private finance, beyond the $8.5 billion already mobilised by the IPG. We are now working to ensure that UK support for the JETP is in place.

Somaliland: Animals

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department will take steps to support Somaliland with tackling animal (a) poaching and (b) trafficking in that region.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The UK is committed to protecting endangered animals and plants from poaching and illegal trade to benefit wildlife, local communities and the economy, and protect global security. We are investing over £46 million globally between 2014 and 2022 to counter illegal trade by reducing demand, strengthening enforcement, ensuring effective legal frameworks and developing sustainable livelihoods. Through the Illegal Wildlife Trade (IWT) Challenge Fund the UK has committed over £900,000 to the Legal Intelligence for Cheetah Illicit Trade (LICIT) Fund to enhance national and regional capacity in the Horn of Africa, including in Somaliland, to fight wildlife crime by strengthening national and regional level legal capacity and increasing community capacity and ownership of wildlife resources.

Tigray: Medical Equipment

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department has taken recent steps to (a) mobilise and (b) deliver medical supplies to Tigray.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: We welcome the commitment made in the 2 November peace agreement by both the Ethiopian Government and the Tigray People's Liberation Front to unfettered humanitarian access to all parts of Tigray.In the last nineteen months the UK has provided nearly £90 million of life-saving aid to communities across Ethiopia affected by crises. This support has provided emergency health supplies for 1 million people across Ethiopia. Through the recently announced package of £14 million humanitarian support, funding is expected to reach up to 150,000 people with comprehensive health, water sanitation, hygiene and nutrition services across Ethiopia including Tigray.

Ethiopia: Security

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of (a) trends in the level of security in the Oromia region of Ethiopia and (b) the risk of increased insecurity in that region.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: Violence in Oromia, and elsewhere in Ethiopia is killing and displacing civilians and contributing to instability. Violence against civilians is unacceptable and perpetrators from all parties must be held to account. Following the reports of civilian killings in Oromia and Gambella earlier this year we endorsed the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission's call for the protection of civilians. The UK's Human Rights and Peacebuilding programme is providing support to build the capacity of the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission, including enhanced investigative capacity, and to establish a national conflict research facility through Conciliation Resources and the Rift Valley Institute.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the Government will take to support the World Health Organisation's mRNA Technology Transfer Hubs in light of commitments within the G20 Leaders’ Declaration.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: We are working with industry, Gavi and other international partners on practical efforts to scale up capacity and engage on planning to accelerate vaccination programmes globally. In March 2022, the UK hosted the Global Pandemic Preparedness Summit, which raised over US$1.5 billion, including a UK pledge of £160 million to Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), to help develop vaccines against new health threats in 100 days and rapidly scale-up manufacturing. We continue our engagement to identify opportunities for the UK to collaborate with initiatives and implementing partners, including with the G20 as it takes forward work in this area.

Somaliland: Fires

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support the Somaliland Government following the recent fire in Hargeisa Market.

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the potential merits of granting Somaliland diplomatic recognition.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: Following the devastating fire in Hargeisa market on 1-2 April, the UK has led diplomatic and development response efforts on the ground, chairing an international coordination group and supporting a baseline fire safety assessment of marketplaces in Hargeisa, which has been shared with Hargeisa Municipality and the Somaliland fire department.The UK, consistent with the entire international community, does not recognise Somaliland's unilateral declaration of independence. It is for Somaliland and Somalia to come to an agreement about their future relationship. Any new arrangements would need to be recognised by the African Union and neighbours in the region. The African Union is the pre-eminent regional body mandated to defend the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of its Member States, of which Somalia is one. The UK encourages dialogue between Mogadishu and Hargeisa on this issue.

Africa: Development Aid and Humanitarian Aid

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much (a) humanitarian funding and (b) development funding has the UK government given to (i) Somalia, (ii) South Sudan, (iii) Ethiopia, and (iv) Kenya in the financial year 2022-23.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The UK is a sizeable humanitarian donor to East Africa. Since 2019 the UK has allocated more than £1 billion towards humanitarian operations, including across Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and South Sudan, helping to reach tens of millions of people with life-saving aid. The FCDO is committed to transparency with the public and we intend to update on planned Official Development Assistance allocations for FY 22/23 in due course.

Ukraine: Electricity Generation

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many step-up and step-down transformers and related equipment have been (a) provided to assist the resilience and repair of Ukrainian energy grids to date and (b) ordered to be supplied in the future.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The UK is responding to urgent Ukraine requests to help repair damage to energy infrastructure caused by Russian bombardment. We have committed £10 million to the Energy Community Ukraine Support Fund to procure high-priority specialised energy equipment to help Ukraine with critical repairs. Through the Ukraine Electricity Network Support Taskforce, BEIS has delivered 856 mobile generators. The UK is engaging closely with G7 and other international partners to respond to a range of request from Ukraine that include transformers.

Afghanistan: Immigration

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that Afghan citizens who (a) worked for and (b) were affiliated with the UK government are (i) accepted for settlement in the UK and (ii) evacuated from Afghanistan in a timely manner.

Leo Docherty: Under Pathway 3 of the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS), up to 1500 eligible at-risk British Council and GardaWorld contractors and Chevening alumni will be offered resettlement in the first year. FCDO received over 11,400 Expressions of Interest; we are processing these and notifying eligible people with advice on next steps. We are doing everything we can to bring the first Pathway 3 arrivals to the UK as soon as possible. Over 6,300 people have already been relocated under the ACRS, in addition to those brought to safety under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy scheme, led by the UK's Ministry of Defence.

Sierra Leone: Electoral Systems

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he discussed voter (a) registration, (b) exhibition and (c) verification during his meeting with the President of Sierra Leone in November 2022.

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the President of Sierra Leone on people shot in a protesting in Freetown.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: As a close friend of Sierra Leone, the UK holds regular, frank discussions with senior government interlocutors and other key stakeholders, on good governance, the rule of law and stability, and the importance of a free, fair election in 2023. We condemn acts of political violence and we work closely with civil society organisations in Sierra Leone to champion universal human rights, including freedom of speech and expression, and to advocate for their protection by the authorities.The Foreign Secretary spoke with the President of Sierra Leone in London on 22 November 2022 about the importance of the upcoming election and Sierra Leone's democratic process. I reiterated this message in a meeting with the Minister of Basic and Senior Education at the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative conference on 28 November.The British High Commission Freetown has recently observed the national voter registration process. The UK did not fund or provide assistance for the Mid-Term Census and we have made our views on its limitations known to the Government of Sierra Leone.

Brazil: Human Rights

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Brazilian counterpart on the protection of human rights defenders in that country.

David Rutley: The UK is committed to promoting and defending the human rights of all individuals and regularly engages with government and civil society in Brazil on that basis. In October the Foreign Secretary spoke to Brazilian Foreign Minister Franҫa and shared with him our hope for peaceful elections in Brazil. At COP27, Lord Goldsmith met newly elected Lower House Representatives Sônia Guajajara and Joênia Wapichana, prominent indigenous rights leaders, with whom he discussed the effect of environmental crime on these communities. In Advanced Questions submitted to the Universal Periodic Review in November, the UK referenced the murders of Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira and asked how Brazil intends to strengthen protections of human rights including for environmental and human rights defenders, as well as women at risk of trafficking and the LGBT+ community. We will continue to engage with relevant partners to raise these issues following President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's inauguration on 1 January 2023.

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya

Tony Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has met with Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya since his appointment.

Leo Docherty: Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya last visited the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office on 9 March 2022, where she met the Rt. Hon. James Cleverly, then Minister for Europe. Although there are currently no firm plans in place for a future visit, the UK remains in regular contact with Mrs Tsikanouskaya and other prominent Belarusian civil society figures.The UK Government continues to urge the Belarusian authorities to end their repression of their own citizens, enter into an inclusive dialogue with the democratic opposition and civil society, and offer the Belarusian people the genuine choice of government that they both want and deserve.

Cambodia: Manufacturing Industries

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had recent discussions with his Cambodian counterpart on the (a) working conditions and (b) rights of garment workers in that country.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: The UK regularly raises human rights and labour rights issues with the Cambodian Government, including when the former Minister for Asia met the Cambodian Foreign Minister in January 2022. We have also discussed the issue at UK - Cambodia Human Rights Dialogues. We will continue to monitor developments relating to the labour rights of garment workers and will engage the Cambodian Government on the issue.

Myanmar: Humanitarian Aid

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department requires any (a) international non-governmental or (b) Burmese civil society organisations to have memorandums of understanding with the Burmese Government in order to receive UK aid.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: The FCDO does not require international non-governmental or civil society organisations to be registered with the Myanmar regime to receive UK aid. We are working closely with our partners to assess the impact and minimise the risk of the military regime's law of 28 October, which requires all non-governmental and civil society organisations to register with them.

Indonesia: Diplomatic Service

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many UK-based staff from his Department have been deployed to the (a) Embassy and (b) relevant Consulates in Indonesia in each year since 2010.

David Rutley: Number of staff in Embassy and relevant Consulates in IndonesiaTime PeriodBanded NumberMar-1420-29Mar-1520-29Mar-1620-29Mar-1720-29Mar-1820-29Mar-1920-29Mar-2020-29Mar-2120-29Mar-2220-29

Myanmar: Humanitarian Aid

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what humanitarian assistance the Government is providing to people in Myanmar who have been displaced by airstrikes.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: We remain very concerned by the horrific tactics used by the Myanmar military, including indiscriminate airstrikes against civilians. The UK frequently raises these issues in international statements, including at the UN Security Council (UNSC) and Human Rights Council. The UK secured a UNSC Statement on 27 July, which expressed concern at the escalating conflict and called for full and unhindered access for humanitarian aid.In financial year 2021/22 the UK provided £49.5 million in aid to Myanmar; 70% of this was for humanitarian needs and healthcare. This financial year, the UK has so far provided £36 million in humanitarian assistance, reaching over 500,000 people with life-saving assistance including healthcare, food, water and sanitation.

Africa: Vaccination

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to support the Partnership for Vaccine Manufacturing initiative to increase African vaccine manufacturing.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: Vaccine availability has improved across Africa since late 2021. Increased and diversified manufacturing will strengthen health services and improve preparedness for future pandemics. We are supporting the Africa Centres for Disease Control's "Partnership for African Vaccine Manufacturing" by providing market analysis on priority vaccines for the region, to inform manufacturers' and investors' planning. We have provided technical support to develop business cases for production in South Africa, Senegal and Morocco. Our approach contributes to sustainable manufacturing in the medium and longer term across Africa through commercially viable businesses operating within an ecosystem of skilled workers, innovative technology, and effective regulation.

Africa: Monkeypox

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support African countries experiencing outbreaks of monkeypox.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: FCDO is leading coordination of the cross-government international response to Mpox. Through our support to CEPI (Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations), the UK is supporting early action including Research & Development funding to support the development of potential vaccines. The UK committed £160 million to CEPI in February 2022. To help strengthen testing, the UK is funding partners such as the Wellcome Trust to support a network of UK and international institutions on research into Mpox antiviral testing and treatments in selected countries, including in West and Central Africa. We continue to share UK surveillance data to inform the global response.

Ministry of Defence

Military Aid: Industrial Disputes

Richard Foord: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many military personnel have been seconded to cover for workers engaged in industrial action in (a) December 2022 and (b) January 2023.

James Heappey: No military personnel are being seconded to cover for workers engaged in industrial action. Service personnel will provide support only in response to specific agreed MACA requests for specific tasks, but this will not equate to secondments.

Ministry of Defence: Bullying

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an estimate of the number of staff who have been subject to (a) sexual harassment and (b) bullying in his Department in each year since 2018.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The annual Civil Service People Survey looks at civil servants’ attitudes to, and experience of working in government departments. Staff are asked about their experiences of harassment or bullying at work over the previous 12-months. Due to how the data is captured, it is not possible to separate out bullying from harassment. Within the People Survey, staff reporting experiencing harassment or bullying at work over the previous 12-months:2018: 11%2019: 12%2020: 8%2021: 10%2022: results are not yet available.

Air Force: Training

Chris Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the potential relationship between the delivery of the Military Flying Training System and the functioning of Operational Conversion Unit.

James Heappey: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has a range of governance measures in place to assess the full flying training (UK Military Flying Training System (UKMFTS) and Operational Conversion Units (OCU) pipeline's ability to meet MOD needs. These include the bi-monthly Aircrew Pipeline Steering Group (APSG), chaired at 3* level. Flying training has also been introduced as a standing agenda item for the monthly Air Executive Committee and will be reviewed annually at the Air Force Main Board, as the Senior Responsible Owner of UKMFTS.

Department of Health and Social Care and Home Office: Military Aid

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many armed forces personnel will be on standby for Military Aid to Civilian Authority requests from (a) the Department of Health and Social Care and (b) the Home Office until 1 April 2023.

James Heappey: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is readying up to 750 military personnel for ambulance driving tasks to support the Department of Health and Social Care. The MOD has agreed to meet a request from the Home Office for a total of 80 military personnel to bolster the Fire and Rescue Service's contingency plans in the event of any industrial action by staff. A further 625 military personnel will be supporting the government's ongoing contingency planning in response to strike action from Border Force staff.

Military Aid: Ambulance Services

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many armed forces personnel are being trained at NHS trusts to drive ambulances.

James Heappey: Defence is making available 600 military personnel, who the NHS will train to drive ambulances in order to mitigate the impact of the proposed industrial action in December 2022.

Military Aid: Ambulance Services

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 1 December to Question 97439 on Military Aid: NHS, whether his Department has received a Military Aid to Civilian Authority request from the Department of Health and Social Care to support the Ambulance Service since 1 December 2022.

James Heappey: The Ministry of Defence has received and accepted a request from Department of Health and Social Care under the Military Aid to Civil Authorities process.

AWACS: Procurement

Chris Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of commissioning the three E-7 Wedgetail airborne early warning aircraft.

Alex Chalk: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to question 102821 from the Rt hon. Member for Rayleigh and Wickford on 13 December 2022.AWACS: Procurement (docx, 16.5KB)

Typhoon Aircraft

Chris Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the oral evidence taken by the Defence Select Committee on 29 November 2022 on Aviation Procurement, HC 178, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the timescale in which the majority of the Typhoon Tranche 1 aircraft will go out of service on air combat capability gaps.

Alex Chalk: The retirement of Typhoon Tranche 1 will enable further investment in Typhoon Tranche 2 and 3, which will incrementally develop through the Future Capability Programme. The retention of seven front line Typhoon squadrons, equipped with more modern and reliable aircraft will ensure no deterioration in combat effect. Our future force will be based around these upgraded Typhoon and F-35 for the coming decades, before the next generation of combat air fighter jets comes into service through the Global Combat Air Programme.

Ministry of Defence: Vacancies

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which five teams in their Department have the highest number of staffing vacancies as a proportion of total staff as of 8 December 2022; and what proportion of roles were vacant in each of those teams.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The requested data is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Ministry of Defence: Staff

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has made an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of the level in civilian personnel (a) resignations, (b) retirements and (c) transfers in the 12 months ending 30 September 2022 compared with the previous 12 months.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) continuously monitors the movement of its Civil Servants and continually seeks to ensure the optimal force design (utilising civilians, Regular Armed Forces, and Reserves appropriately) to meet Defence outputs. Workforce planning is guided by the principle of the right person, with the right skills, in the right role and biannual Strategic Workforce Plans are used to determine future inflow and outflow projections. Evaluation of the availability of required skills has provided an enhanced understanding of workforce skill gaps, allowing appropriate interventions to be identified. These plans are formally submitted twice a year and work is ongoing to analyse, interpret and understand their aggregate impact at Departmental level. MOD’s monthly attrition rates combined with exit survey analysis enable us to understand how and why Civil Servants leave Defence. The latest data illustrates that there have been changes in inflow and outflow over the last year:MOD civilian personnel strengthAt October 2022, MOD civilian personnel strength was 59,950. This is a decrease of 460 (0.8%) compared with 1 October 2021 MOD civilian personnel inflowFor the 12 months to 30 September 2022, MOD civilian personnel inflow was 5,980. This is a decrease of 180 (2.9%) compared with the previous 12 months MOD civilian personnel outflowFor the 12 months to 30 September 2022, MOD civilian personnel outflow was 6,600. This is an increase of 1,980 (42.8%) compared with the previous 12 months. This is mainly driven by a 48.6% increase in resignation and retirement across the organisation. At 1 April 2022, resignation and retirement across the organisation accounted for a 68% increase across the organisation over the previous 12 months.

Ministry of Defence: Resignations

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many civilian personnel by (a) grade, (b) job role and (c) geographic location resigned in the 12 months to 30 September 2022.

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many civilian personnel by (a) grade, (b) job role and (c) geographic location retired in the 12 months to 30 September 2022.

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many civilian personnel transferred out of his Department by (a) grade, (b) job role and (c) geographic location in the 12 months to 30 September 2022.

Dr Andrew Murrison: It is taking time to collate the required information to answer the hon. Member’s Question. I will write to him when the information is available, and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of The House.

Typhoon Aircraft: Costs

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to Figure 11 of the NAO report on The Equipment Plan 2022-2032 published on 29 November 2022, HC 907, what the reason is for the variance in the forecast costs of Typhoon since the Cost Assurance and Analysis Service last reported its findings.

Alex Chalk: The increase in forecast cost of Typhoon is due to expected commercial challenges to renegotiate key contracts supporting the programme.

Defence Equipment: Procurement

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, for what reasons his Department did not consider the OBR's inflation projections from March 2022 when drafting The Defence Equipment Plan 2022-23.

Alex Chalk: The Defence Equipment Plan 2022-23 is a financial reporting document reflecting a picture in time aligned to the Annual Budgeting Cycle (ABC). This year's ABC closed at the end of March 2022 and therefore the affordability analysis of the Plan reflects the position up until that point. The Equipment Plan is a baseline from which the Department plans around challenges with inflation being one such example.

Future Combat Air System

Chris Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the oral evidence taken by the Defence Select Committee on 29 November 2022 on Aviation Procurement, HC 178, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the time it will take for Tempest aircraft to become fully operational on air combat capability gaps.

Alex Chalk: The Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) is a collaboration between the UK, Italy and Japan to develop a next-generation fighter aircraft to enter service from 2035, before Typhoon's earliest possible out of service date of 2040. Within the UK, the aircraft under development will be known as Tempest.

Typhoon Aircraft

Chris Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the oral evidence taken by the Defence Select Committee on 29 November 2022 on Aviation Procurement, HC 178, whether it remains his Department's policy to retire Typhoon Tranche 1 aircraft in the context of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Chris Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of placing the 30 Tranche 1 Typhoons in a war reserve rather than retiring them in the context of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Alex Chalk: The plans have not changed. Withdrawing the Tranche 1 aircraft enables the reinvestment required in the rest of the Typhoon fleet out to its out of service date.On current plans, the bulk of the Typhoon Tranche 1 aircraft will go out of service on 31 March 2025, whilst four will be retained until 2027.

A400M Aircraft: Procurement

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much of the funding for the A400M additional purchases is held (a) centrally and (b) by Air Command.

Alex Chalk: All funding for additional purchases of A400M is currently held centrally. It would not be appropriate for the Department to release forecast funding figures at this time.

Integrated Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy Review

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent estimate he has made of the percentage of GDP needed to be spent in order to fulfil the defence and security objectives of his Department set out in the Integrated Review.

Alex Chalk: The Department continues to assess the threats we face, and the capabilities we need in order to address them. It is important to ensure that our plans are properly financed and supported, and this work is not driven by striving for a percentage of GDP.

F-35 Aircraft: Costs

Chris Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the operational costs are of one flying hour for the F-35 aircraft.

Alex Chalk: I am withholding the information requested as its release would prejudice commercial interests.

Fleet Solid Support Ships: Shipbuilding

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the response from the Minister for Defence Procurement to hon. Member for Leyton and Wanstead of 12 December 2022, by what definition the Fleet Solid Support Ships will be built in the UK.

Alex Chalk: The majority of the work will be carried out in the UK. The mid and forward sections of all three Fleet Solid Support ships will be built by Harland & Wolff shipyards in Belfast and Appledore. Following arrival of the aft blocks from Spain, the final outfitting, integration of blocks and modules and fitting of sensitive systems, as well as all testing and commissioning will take place in Belfast.

Type 32 Frigates: Procurement

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 8 December 2022 to Question 102771 on Type 32 Frigates: Procurement, when his Department plans to complete the concept phase of the Type 32 Frigate programme.

Alex Chalk: The Type 32 Frigate programme concept phase began in September 2022. The concept phase will end once the requirements for the platform have been finalised, and once overall programme funding has been confirmed.

Type 32 Frigates: Procurement

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to Answer of 8 December 2022 to Question 102768, what programmes are involved in the Type 32 Frigate.

Alex Chalk: The Royal Navy is evolving to become a future Maritime Force and the Type 32 Frigate programme forms part of this. Development work is also being undertaken by a number of defence organisations on programmes that are in their pre-concept/concept phase, including the Multi-Role Support Ship and Future Air Dominance Systems.

Type 32 Frigates: Procurement

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 8 December 2022 to Question 102768, which defence organisations are involved in the Type 32 Frigate programme.

Alex Chalk: In addition to the Royal Navy, Defence Equipment and Support Organisation (DE&S), Defence Science and Technology Laboratory Organisation (DSTL) and the National Shipbuilding Office (NSO) - an independent office of the Ministry of Defence - are currently involved in the concept work on the Type 32 Frigate programme.

Ministry of Defence: Public Expenditure

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has made an assessment of the impact of the Autumn Statement 2022 on the Ministry of Defence Budget in real terms compared to 2021.

Mr Ben Wallace: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the right hon. Member for Rayleigh and Wickford (Mark Francois) on 8 December 2022 to Question 93479.Defence: Expenditure (docx, 21.8KB)

Taiwan: Navy

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department plans to take steps to provide naval patrols around Taiwan.

James Heappey: The UK is committed to asserting its rights to freedom of navigation and overflight, as laid out in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Wherever we operate in the world we do so in full compliance with international laws and norms. The last transit through the Taiwan Strait was carried out by the Royal Navy in 2021, when HMS Richmond (Type 23 Frigate) conducted a Taiwan Strait Navigation during CSG21 deployment en route to Vietnam.

Taiwan: Military Aid

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if his Department will take steps to provide training for Taiwanese soldiers.

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if his Department will take steps to provide military aid to Taiwan.

James Heappey: The UK's longstanding policy on Taiwan has not changed: we have no diplomatic or military relations with Taiwan but a strong, unofficial relationship, based on deep and growing ties in a wide range of areas, and underpinned by shared democratic values.

Military Aid: Industrial Disputes

Richard Foord: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will undertake an impact assessment on the effect of military personnel cover for workers engaged in industrial action over winter 2022-23 on the UK's armed forces' capability over that period.

James Heappey: Defence considers a range of factors before approving a MACA request - including the extent to which the request can be fulfilled without disrupting core Defence activity. I and my Ministerial colleagues are clear that the primary task of the Armed Forces is the defence of the realm; we would not approve a MACA request if it put our ability to undertake priority Defence activity at inappropriate risk.

Afghanistan: Refugees

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many applications for resettlement to the UK under the Ex-Gratia Scheme for Afghan former locally employed staff there were from 4 June 2013 to 30 November 2022; how many of those applications were approved; and how many remain outstanding.

James Heappey: Under the Ex-Gratia Scheme (EGS), eligible locally employed staff could apply for three offers: financial, training or relocation.Under the relocation offer, 526 principals were approved and have relocated to the UK with their family members.There are eight EGS applications outstanding. We are actively supporting the relocation of those applicants still wishing to relocate to the UK.

Ministry of Defence: Written Questions

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he plans to respond to Question 100891 on Military Aid: Fire Services, tabled on 1 December 2022 by the Rt hon. Member for Wentworth and Dearne.

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he plans to provide an answer to Question 100891 tabled by the hon. Member for Wentworth and Deane on 1 December 2022 for answer on 6 December.

James Heappey: I responded to the right hon. Member's question on 12 December 2022.

Department for Work and Pensions

Jobcentres

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average number of work coaches in post was at a jobcentre in each month in the last 12 months for which data is available.

Guy Opperman: The average number of work coaches varies to meet customer need. There are 670 Jobcentres in the network, with sites ranging from a minimal caseload of 250 customers, to in excess of 5,000 customers.

Employment: Menopause

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department has taken since the publication of the Women’s Health Strategy to encourage employers to implement evidence based workplace support for the menopause including introducing workplace menopause policies.

Mims Davies: The previous Minister for Employment commissioned the roundtable on older workers to look at the menopause and employment. A subsequent independent menopause and the workplace report was published, to which the Government’s response was outlined in July: Menopause and the Workplace: How to enable fulfilling working lives: government response - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk), both documents covering actions and responsibilities of employers. Alongside this, and separately, the Women’s Health Strategy sets out a range of commitments including encouraging employers to implement evidence-based workplace support and introduce workplace menopause policies.

Second State Pension Age Independent Review

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when she plans to publish the independent report on the Second State Pension age review.

Laura Trott: The independent report is currently being considered as part of a wide range of evidence that will inform the second Government Review of State Pension age. The Government Review will be published in early 2023, as announced at the Autumn Statement 2022. The independent report will be published alongside it.

Cold Weather Payments

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the Cold Weather Payment in line with inflation.

Laura Trott: The current Cold Weather Payment scheme represents a contribution towards additional heating costs, paid at the time of need. The government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living and has taken further decisive action to support people with their energy bills. The government’s Energy Price Guarantee will save a typical British household around £900 this winter, based on what energy price would have been under the current price cap – reducing bills by roughly a third. This is in addition to the over £37bn of cost of living support announced earlier this year which includes the £400 non-repayable discount to eligible households provided through the Energy Bills Support Scheme.

Cold Weather Payments

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of increasing the level of cold weather payments to reflect the increase in energy prices.

Laura Trott: The current Cold Weather Payment scheme represents a contribution towards additional heating costs, paid at the time of need. The government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living and has taken further decisive action to support people with their energy bills. In 2022-23, the government’s Energy Price Guarantee will save a typical British household around £900 this winter, based on what energy price would have been under the current price cap – reducing bills by roughly a third. This is in addition to the over £37bn of cost of living support announced earlier this year which includes the £400 non-repayable discount to eligible households provided through the Energy Bills Support Scheme.

Pension Credit: Eligibility

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if his Department will review the threshold to qualify for Pension Credit in the context of the increase in the level of inflation.

Laura Trott: Following the conclusion of the Secretary of State’s annual up-rating review, subject to Parliamentary approval, the Standard Minimum Guarantee in Pension Credit will increase by 10.1% from April 2023. This is in line with the increase in prices in the year to September 2022 and it will also extend CPI protection to those who rely on the Standard Minimum Guarantee in Pension Credit at a cost of £700 million above the statutory minimum requirement.Other elements of Pension Credit will also increase by 10.1%, including the additional amounts for disabled people and carers, and the threshold for access to the Savings Credit for those who reached State Pension age before April 2016.

Winter Fuel Payments

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent steps his Department has taken to ensure that Winter Fuel Payments are made in a timely manner.

Laura Trott: The final batch of Winter Fuel Payments were processed by DWP on 7 December with payments credited to customers’ bank accounts on 12 December 2022. Payment adjustments resulting from customers’ change of circumstances and death arrears will continue to be made over the coming weeks, this includes any new claims for this year's Winter Fuel Payment exercise.

Jobcentres

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an estimate of the average caseload of a work coach in each of the last five financial years for which data is available.

Guy Opperman: Cases are seen on their specific requirements determined by factors including which conditionality regime they are in, so there is no single measure of Cases per Work Coach.

Cost of Living Payments: Disability

Sir George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the Cost of Living Payments for disabled people not on means-tested benefits and who have higher energy usage.

Stuart C McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of Cost of Living Payment for disabled people not on means-tested benefits and who have higher energy usage.

Christina Rees: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he been made of the adequacy of the Cost of Living Payments for disabled people not on means tested benefits who have higher energy usage.

Tom Pursglove: I refer the Hon and Rt Hon Members to the answer I gave on 13 December 2022 to Question UIN 106507.

Cost of Living Payments: Carers

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of providing a Cost of Living Payment to unpaid carers.

Tom Pursglove: The Government recognises and values the vital contribution made by carers every day in providing significant care and continuity of support to family and friends, including pensioners and those with disabilities.Depending on personal circumstances, carers may be eligible for means-tested benefits, including Universal Credit and Pension Credit. Means-tested benefits can be paid to carers at a higher rate than those without caring responsibilities through the Carer Element in Universal Credit and the additional amounts for carers in other benefits respectively.We would encourage anyone who is providing unpaid care, and who is not already in receipt of a means-tested benefit, to check on GOV.UK to confirm whether there are other benefits they may be entitled to. Advice can also be sought from organisations such as Carers UK and Citizens Advice. Means-tested benefits can provide extra weekly income and trigger extra support with the cost of living.Nearly 60% of carers on low incomes, who are of working age and on Carer’s Allowance, claim a means-tested benefit, through which they may be entitled to receive up to £650 in Cost of Living Payments in 2022/23. These payments are targeted at low income households in receipt of an eligible means-tested benefit, including pensioners who are in receipt of Pension Credit.Six million people in receipt of an eligible disability benefit should have received the £150 Disability Cost of Living Payment, and eight million pensioner households are receiving a £300 Pensioner Cost of Living Payment as a top-up to their Winter Fuel Payment.All Carer’s Allowance recipients in England who pay Council Tax in bands A to D should have received a £150 rebate.The Secretary of State announced on 17 November that State Pensions and benefits will be up-rated from April 2023 by 10.1%, in line with the increase in the Consumer Prices Index in the year to September 2022.To ensure stability and certainty for households, in the Autumn Statement, the Government announced £26 billion in cost of living support for 2023/24. This includes Cost of Living Payments for the most vulnerable households, an additional £1 billion to help with the cost of household essentials next year and the amended Energy Price Guarantee, which will save the average UK household £500 in 2023-24.For those who require extra support, the Government is providing an additional £1 billion of funding, including Barnett impact, to enable the extension of the Household Support Fund in England in the next financial year. This is on top of what we have already provided since October 2021, bringing total funding to £2.5 billion. In England, this will be delivered through an extension to the Household Support Fund, backed by £842 million, running from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024, which local authorities use to help households with the cost of essentials. It will be for the devolved administrations to decide how to allocate their additional Barnett funding.

Restart Scheme: Disclosure of Information

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 22 November 2022 on Question 86672 on Restart Scheme: Disclosure of Information, when he expects the Department to complete its plan to publish official statistics on the Restart Scheme.

Guy Opperman: The department plans to release an ad hoc publication of official statistics for the Restart Scheme today.

Universal Credit

Drew Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 11 October 2022 to Question 54580, on Universal Credit, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of facilitating temporary Universal Credit capital allowance extensions in cases where they would prevent the suspension of an individual's Universal Credit award in the period between the sale of one Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle and the purchase of another one, and where the purchase of that new vehicle absorbs all the additional income generated by the sale.

Guy Opperman: Universal Credit is assessed in monthly assessment periods. Ordinarily capital is considered at the end of an assessment period. Therefore, the effect of capital on entitlement would depend on whether or not it was available to the claimant at the relevant time. Using the example given, if a wheelchair accessible vehicle was sold near the beginning of the assessment period and a replacement vehicle purchased before the end of that assessment period, then it is unlikely the proceeds would have any impact on the Universal Credit award, unless it increased the value of capital above the limits described above at the end of the assessment period. The level at which capital starts to be claimed is above £6000. Entitlement to UC ends where capital is above £16000.

Employment: Disability

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people left the Intensive Personalised Employment Support programme as a result of entering employment in each of the last five calendar years.

Guy Opperman: The Intensive Personalised Employment Support (IPES) programme provides support for disabled people with complex barriers to work. Participants receive up to fifteen months of intensive pre-employment support and six months of intensive in-work support when they start work. When participants enter employment, they continue to receive support from their IPES provider and do not leave the programme. Support will usually end when the participant achieves a higher threshold outcome. Referrals to the IPES programme started in December 2019. There were 50 higher threshold employment outcomes in the year ending December 2020, 580 higher threshold employment outcomes in the year ending December 2021, and 820 higher threshold, employment outcomes up until November 2022.

Food Banks

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, on how many occasions staff in his Department have suggested that UK residents could make use of foodbanks in response to issues they are having in accessing benefits.

Mims Davies: Jobcentre Plus staff can, and do, signpost people in need to foodbanks, and other sources of help, while ensuring all sources of state support are explored. The number of claimants that have been signposted to foodbanks by the department is not captured. Foodbanks are independent, charitable organisations and the Department for Work and Pensions does not have any role in their operation.

Bereavement Benefits (Remedial) Order 2022

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the report published on 6 December 2022 by the Joint Committee on Human Rights into the draft Bereavement Benefits (Remedial) Order 2022, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of (a) the Committee's disappointment that it does not take effect from the date of the original High Court decision from 2016 in the case of Siobhan McLaughlin and (b) the Committee's recommendation that the Government consider offering payments to cover claimants who will not receive benefits as a result of the cut-off date in the remedial order.

Mims Davies: The Department welcomes the JCHR report on the draft Bereavement Benefits (Remedial) Order 2022 and the Committee’s recommendation that the draft Order be approved. The draft Remedial Order proposes 30 August 2018 as the start date because that was when the incompatibility for Widowed Parents Allowance was accepted as final in the Supreme Court. It is not routine for Social Security changes to be made retrospectively, and to use an earlier date, or make additional payments via a new scheme, would bring extra administrative complexity and costs to the taxpayer.

Universal Credit

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people claiming Universal Credit are subject to third party deductions as of 12 December 2022; and what the median deduction was.

Guy Opperman: Figures for the period to 12 December 2022 are not yet available.

Universal Credit

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 18 October 2022 to Question 58983 on Universal Credit, if he will provide that information for the period to 12 December 2022.

Guy Opperman: Figures for the period to 12 December 2022 are not yet available.

Jobcentre Plus: Expenditure

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much his Department has spent on Jobcentre Plus on (a) resource and (b) capital expenditure in each of the last five financial years.

Guy Opperman: The information requested is not collated centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Environment Act 2021

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department obtained legal advice on its planned timetable for the publication of targets under the Environment Act 2021.

Trudy Harrison: Policy and legal officials have worked closely together to advise on the publication of targets under the Environment Act 2021.

Environment Protection

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, why the publication of the final Environmental Principles Policy Statement has been delayed; and when that Statement will be published.

Trudy Harrison: We have been considering feedback from Parliamentary scrutiny and from the Office for Environmental Protection on the draft environmental principles policy statement. We hope to agree the final policy statement in the coming weeks, and to publish it in early 2023.

Nature Conservation

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of rewilding moorland through lack of management on (a) the amount of carbon sequestered in deep peat and (b) populations of ground-nesting bird species.

Trudy Harrison: Wilding or re-wilding is the restoration of ecosystems to the point where they are more regulated by natural processes. Degrading peatlands release carbon into the atmosphere. It is estimated that peatlands in England emit approximately 10 million tonnes carbon dioxide equivalent per year. Restoring peat to its natural wet state is likely to save significant amounts of greenhouse gas emissions. That is why the government has committed to restore 35,000 hectares of peatland – an area roughly the size of the Isle of Wight - by 2025 through our Nature for Climate Peatland Grant Scheme, and a total of 280,000 hectares by 2050. While no specific assessment has been made, restoration of moorland on peat soils that supports improved habitat function is likely to mitigate effects of climate change and support ground nesting bird populations.

Home Office

Undocumented Migrants: English Channel

Beth Winter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her foreword to the report by the Centre for Policy Studies entitled Stopping the Crossings, published in November 2022, whether she has had recent discussions with the UNHCR Representative to the UK on the recommendations of the report.

Robert Jenrick: The Home Secretary has not discussed the recommendations with the UNHCR Representative. The latest transparency returns for the Home Office can be found here: Home Office: ministerial gifts, hospitality, travel and meetings, April to June 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Asylum: Northern Ireland

Claire Hanna: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions her Department has had with local authorities in Northern Ireland on the use of contingency accommodation for asylum seekers in Northern Ireland; and if she will make a statement.

Robert Jenrick: Due to the continuing unprecedented number of small boats arrivals and the historical pressure from COVID-19 measures on the asylum system it has been necessary to continue to use hotels to accommodate some asylum seekers to meet our immediate statutory need.As is the case across the UK, the Home Office notify local authorities when new contingency accommodation is stood up in a local authority area. Additionally, there are bi-weekly council engagement meetings chaired by The Executive Office (TEO), at which councils can raise any issues that they are experiencing. These meetings are regularly attended by representatives hosting contingency accommodation.

Home Office: Incentives

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the value of non-cash vouchers awarded to staff working for her core Department as performance-related bonuses was in (a) 2017-18, (b) 2018-19, (c) 2019-20, (d) 2020-21, and (e) 2021-22.

Chris Philp: The value of non-cash vouchers awarded to staff working for Home Office is as follows:(a) 2017-18: £641,895(b) 2018-19: £1,180,580(c) 2019-20: £1,770,945(d) 2020-21: £2,792,935(e) 2021-22: £6,622,055

Police: Finance

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the impact of inflation on the police precept; and whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of alternative methods towards providing funding for local police services.

Chris Philp: Around two thirds of police funding comes from central Government grants, as well as additional funding for specific purposes like crime reduction programmes. The remaining funding is drawn from a share of council tax known as “precept”. In total for 2022-23, the Government will provide around £10bn of grant funding to PCCs, with up to £4.9bn drawn from police precept.Setting precept levels is a decision for elected Police and Crime Commissioners, taking into account local priorities. Central Government set upper limits on the amount that precept may be increased each year in England. Any proposed increase above that limit is subject to a local referendum. Council tax policy in Wales is a matter for the devolved Government.

Police: Misconduct

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that claims of misconduct against police officers are fully investigated in a timely manner.

Chris Philp: The Government introduced legislative reforms in February 2020 to strengthen the police complaints and discipline systems, including measures to improve timelines.This imposed a requirement on both the police and the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) to provide a written explanation if any such investigation is not completed within 12 months - setting out what progress it has made, why it hasn’t completed the investigation and the steps it will take to bring the investigation to a conclusion.The IOPC publishes data on police complaints, including the timeliness of complaints handling and investigations by police forces, and the time taken to complete its own investigations. The Home Office has amended its own data collection with the aim of providing more comprehensive data on timeliness. The next tranche of data is due to be published on 12 January 2023.

Frontex

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the joint statement on migration issues by Ministers from the UK, France, the Netherlands and Belgium on 8 December 2022, when discussions on a formal working arrangement between the UK and Frontex will take place; what her priorities are for those discussions; and what the timetable is for a working arrangement to be agreed.

Robert Jenrick: As set out in the joint statement issued on 8 December, those in attendance agreed discussions on a Working Arrangement between the United Kingdom and Frontex should start promptly. These discussions will explore how the United Kingdom and Frontex can best share expertise, information and resources, or otherwise cooperate, to address the growing issue of irregular migration into and across Europe. The timetable for reaching an agreement will depend on all parties involved.

Members: Correspondence

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when her Department plans to respond to the correspondence of 14 November 2022 from the hon. Member for Liverpool, Walton on tackling seasonal worker exploitation.

Robert Jenrick: The Home Office will reply shortly.

Firearms: Licensing

Carla Lockhart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications for a firearms license have been made in England and Wales in each of the last ten years.

Chris Philp: The Home Office publishes data on firearm and shotgun certificates in England and Wales, including the number of firearm licence applications made in the last ten years. The latest data cover the period April 2021 to March 2022, and are available here: Firearm certificates in England and Wales statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)Data on the number of firearm licence applications by year are published in table 1 of the accompanying data tables.

Firearms: Seized Articles

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many firearms were seized by the police in each the last five years.

Chris Philp: The Home Office does not routinely collect data on the number of firearms seized by police forces as part of their operations to tackle illegally held weapons and associated crime. However, figures provided by the National Ballistics Intelligence Service for numbers of firearms seized in each of the last five years are as follows:2017/18 – 1,458;2018/19 – 1,321;2019/20 – 1,190;2020/21 – 1,187;2021/22 – 1070.The UK has some of the toughest firearms controls in the world which include tackling the threat posed by the trafficking and misuse of illicit firearms.

Windrush Compensation Scheme: Birmingham

Mrs Paulette Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications to the Windrush Compensation Scheme have been received from (a) Birmingham and (b) Birmingham, Erdington constituency.

Robert Jenrick: The nationality and country of residence of Windrush Compensation Scheme claimants is published as part of the regular transparency data release which can be found here: Windrush Compensation Scheme data: October 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).The Windrush Compensation Scheme does not record data in a way which allows us to report on the location of claimants in the UK.

Deportation: EU Countries

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the joint statement on migration issues by Ministers from the UK, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium on 8 December 2022, what specific discussions she had with representatives of those governments on a potential returns agreement between the UK and (a) France and (b) the EU as a whole; and what the outcome was of those discussions.

Robert Jenrick: Migrant crossings across the Channel are illegal, dangerous and unnecessary. This Government is determined to work with European partners to put the evil people smuggling gangs out of business and save lives.In the joint statement agreed at the 8 December 2022 meeting of Interior Ministers, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium expressed their willingness to work towards an EU-UK cooperation agreement on migration.

Home Office: Vacancies

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if they will list the five teams in their Department with the highest number of staffing vacancies as a percentage of staff as of 8 December 2022; and what is the percentage of roles vacant in each of those teams.

Chris Philp: The number of vacancies is not held centrally and would require significant manual collation and manipulation of data, so could only be retrieved with disproportionate effort.

Visas: Seasonal Workers

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what requirements are placed on Sponsoring Agencies under the Seasonal Workers Scheme to ensure that work will be available for the duration of the visa.

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies that operators recruiting workers under the Seasonal Workers Scheme are potentially terminating workers contracts early without putting in place alternative work placements.

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential benefits of allowing workers in the UK on the agricultural seasonal worker scheme to move between (a) scheme operators and (b) horticulture and poultry.

Robert Jenrick: The Seasonal Worker scheme is an ‘operator led’ immigration route, with four scheme operators selected to manage the placement of workers on UK farms and to ensure their welfare in the UK.The Seasonal Worker scheme operators are responsible for managing all aspects of the recruitment and placement of workers on UK farms and ensuring their welfare in the UK. It is therefore important that they do not recruit more workers than they can effectively support.Scheme operators are expected to maximise the employment of all workers in the UK on a Seasonal Work visa. Operators rotate their work placements and are required to move workers between farms where the worker requests this. Allowing workers to move between operators would not be appropriate as it removes key welfare safeguards in the scheme. The current approach also ensures that each sector can fully benefit from the numbers of workers specifically allocated to them.

Crimes of Violence: Crime Prevention

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the impact of ad-hoc funding in preparation for the Serious Violence Duty.

Chris Philp: The Home Office will fund costs incurred through the implementation of the Serious Violence Duty.This funding will support the specified authorities in a local government area to work together to prevent and reduce serious violence, including identifying the kinds of serious violence that occur in the area, the causes of that violence (so far as it is possible to do so), and to prepare and implement a strategy for preventing, and reducing serious violence in the area.Grant funding for the specified authorities will be administered, on behalf of the Home Office, by local policing bodies.

Migrants: Detainees

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department's independent report entitled Review into the welfare in detention of vulnerable persons published 14 January 2016, what recent progress she has made in implementing recommendation 20 on investigating the development of alternatives to detention.

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department's independent report entitled Review into the welfare in detention of vulnerable persons, published 14 January 2016, what recent progress she has made on implementing recommendation 21 of that review.

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department's independent report entitled Review into the welfare in detention of vulnerable persons, published 14 January 2016, what recent progress she has made on implementing recommendation 22 of that review.

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department's independent report entitled Review into the welfare in detention of vulnerable persons, published 14 January 2016, what recent progress she has made on implementing recommendation 23 of that review.

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department's independent report entitled Review into the welfare in detention of vulnerable persons, published 14 January 2016, what recent progress she has made on implementing recommendation 24 of that review.

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department's independent report entitled Review into the welfare in detention of vulnerable persons, published 14 January 2016, what recent progress she has made on implementing recommendation 25 of that review.

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department's independent report entitled Review into the welfare in detention of vulnerable persons, published 14 January 2016, what recent progress she has made on implementing recommendation 26 of that review.

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department's independent report entitled Review into the welfare in detention of vulnerable persons, published 14 January 2016, what recent progress she has made on implementing recommendation 27 of that review.

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department's independent report entitled Review into the welfare in detention of vulnerable persons, published 14 January 2016, what recent progress she has made on implementing recommendation 28 of that review.

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department's independent report entitled Review into the welfare in detention of vulnerable persons, published 14 January 2016, what recent progress she has made on implementing recommendation 29 of that review.

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department's independent report entitled Review into the welfare in detention of vulnerable persons, published 14 January 2016, what recent progress she has made on implementing recommendation 30 of that review.

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department's independent report entitled Review into the welfare in detention of vulnerable persons, published 14 January 2016, what recent progress she has made on implementing recommendation 31 of that review.

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department's independent report entitled Review into the welfare in detention of vulnerable persons, published 14 January 2016, what recent progress she has made on implementing recommendation 32 of that review.

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department's independent report entitled Review into the welfare in detention of vulnerable persons, published 14 January 2016, what recent progress she has made on implementing recommendation 33 of that review.

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department's independent report entitled Review into the welfare in detention of vulnerable persons, published 14 January 2016, what recent progress she has made on implementing recommendation 34 of that review.

Robert Jenrick: Stephen Shaw’s reports (of 2016 and 2018) led to a comprehensive and systematic programme of work to improve and reform immigration detention. It informed both our strategic and tactical approach to reform and the treatment of people who are detained. This work has strengthened our decision-making and safeguards for the vulnerable, ensuring those who are detained are treated with dignity and respect in an estate that is fit for purpose.Progress has been made on all accepted recommendations and I will write to the MP for Oxford West and Abingdon with more detail. A copy of this letter has been placed in the House library for all.

Visas: Seasonal Workers

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of the seasonal worker visas made available for workers for the poultry sector have been issued as of 7 December 2022.

Robert Jenrick: The Home Office publishes data on visas in the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release(opens in a new tab)’. Data on the number of ‘Seasonal Worker’ visas granted are published in table Vis_D02 of the Entry clearance visas applications and outcomes(opens in a new tab) dataset.Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data relates to the year ending September 2022.Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar(opens in a new tab)’.

Asylum: Domestic Abuse

Stephen Farry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department takes to provide financial support to an asylum seeker who has been subjected to domestic violence where the abusive partner is the main applicant on an asylum claim and where the couple are separated.

Robert Jenrick: We are committed to ensuring that no domestic violence victim is reliant on their abuser either in respect of their application for asylum or their asylum support needs.We have existing policy guidance on how we support victims of domestic violence in the asylum support system: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1049475/Asylum_support_domestic_abuse.pdf.The Home Office works alongside other agencies who can support victims with financial support and advice. Victims of domestic violence can claim asylum in their own right if they were previously the dependant of an abusive partner and that any information they provide will be treated in confidence (subject to safeguarding duties).No destitute asylum seeker will be left without asylum support or accommodation in the event of separation following a domestic violence incident. We have established processes in place to disaggregate financial support to ensure that victims can promptly receive their share of the financial support independently of their abuser.

Visas: Overseas Students

Tommy Sheppard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of capping the number of graduate visas on the UK’s economy.

Robert Jenrick: The Graduate route provides an opportunity for international students who have been awarded their degree to stay in the UK and work, or look for work, at any skill level for 2 years, or 3 years for doctoral students.An Impact Assessment was prepared to accompany the launch of the Graduate route. This can be found at the following link: Impact Assessment template (publishing.service.gov.uk)The public rightly expects us to control immigration and ensure we have a system that works in the UK’s best interests. We keep our immigration policies under constant review to ensure they reflect our priorities.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Homelessness: Veterans

Richard Foord: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an estimate of the number of homeless veterans in winter 2022-23.

Felicity Buchan: As set out previously in response to Question UIN77402 on 11 November, our veterans play a vital role in keeping our country safe and we are committed to providing them with the support they need. Homelessness statistics for England are collected on a quarterly basis and consistently show levels of veteran homelessness are low - less than 1% of homeless households. For Winter 2021 (Oct-December) the proportion of households owed a homelessness duty with a support need due to service in the Armed Forces was 0.7%. The latest statutory homelessness statistics for England, covering the period April-June 2022, show the figure remaining at the same level and are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/homelessness-statistics

Parking: Private Sector

Sam Tarry: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what discussions he has had with local authorities on tackling the misuse of private car parking facilities.

Dehenna Davison: Details of ministerial meetings with external organisations are published regularly.

Housing: Energy

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent steps he has taken to progress the review of the planning barriers that households face when installing energy efficiency measures, due at the end of 2022.

Lucy Frazer: In the Government's British Energy Security Strategy, published earlier this year, we committed to reviewing the practical planning barriers that households can face when installing energy efficiency measures, including in conservation areas and listed buildings. My department has been working on the review jointly with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport and the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy and will make an announcement on the outcomes in due course.

Landlords: Registration

Mrs Paulette Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing a national landlord registration scheme.

Mrs Paulette Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of allowing councils to introduce stronger financial penalties for rogue landlords.

Mrs Paulette Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to encourage greater standardisation in the operation of landlord licensing schemes across the country.

Felicity Buchan: The Government is bringing forward a series of actions in this direction as set out in the White Paper 'Fairer Private Rented Sector', published in June. This includes proposals to introduce a national framework for setting fines, based on clear culpability and harm considerations, which will ensure a more consistent approach to fine setting across the country. We are keen to bolster national oversight of local councils' enforcement, and our intention is to look at the ways councils can share their successes and challenges from their licensing schemes. We are currently conducting user research with landlords, tenants, agents and local authorities to explore the potential merits of a Privately Rented Property Portal.

Housing: Construction

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment his Department has made of the average cost to build a house including the purchase of land in (a) North East Hampshire constituency, (b) the North East and (c) the North West.

Lucy Frazer: The Department does not hold data on the average cost of building a house, including the purchase of land. The Department has published 'Land Value Estimates for policy appraisal 2019'. These show at local level the value of agricultural land before development. They also show the residual land value after development (broken down by residential, commercial and industrial). These tables, as well as guidance for their use, can be found online at gov.uk here.

Blackpool Council: Business Rates

Scott Benton: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what business rate relief Blackpool Council received during the covid-19 pandemic.

Lee Rowley: The Department does not collect information on the amount of relief by property occupier and is not able to answer questions about individual entities. Public sector bodies should be able to offer proportionate responses to data requests as per their Freedom of Information obligations.

Council Tax: Bailiffs

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many local authorities have stopped using bailiffs to collect unpaid council tax.

Lee Rowley: The Department does not collect data on the enforcement methods used by local authorities to collect unpaid council tax.

Local Government Finance: Romford

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will publish a breakdown of the local government funding Romford constituency has received in the past five years.

Lee Rowley: Detailed information on Core Spending Power for the London Borough of Havering (Romford Constituency) for each year since 2015-16 can be viewed here .

Housing: Public Houses

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of having a Council Tax exemption for flats or accommodation above public houses when the public house is empty and the building is due undergo refurbishment.

Lee Rowley: The Government has no plans to introduce a mandatory council tax exemption for accommodation above a public house undergoing renovation. Councils have discretion, under section 13A of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, to provide their own council tax discounts and exemptions where they consider it appropriate.

Heating: Government Assistance

Beth Winter: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if his Department will take steps to (a) establish a register of warm banks provided by local authorities and (b) record the number of people who use warm banks.

Beth Winter: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what data he holds on the number of cold weather shelters to be opened in each (a) region and (b) local authority area during a cold weather alert.

Beth Winter: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether additional financial support (a) is and (b) will be made available to local authorities to fund the provision of warm banks (i) outside office working hours and (ii) overnight.

Beth Winter: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether additional financial support (a) is and (b) will be made available to local authorities to fund the provision of (i) warm banks and (ii) cold weather shelters during cold weather alerts.

Lee Rowley: Further to my answer to Question UIN 107098, answered on 14 December, the department does not hold data on cold weather shelters.Local authorities in Wales are in the first instance a matter for the Welsh Government. The devolved administrations are funded to deliver their devolved responsibilities, including local government.

Homes for Ukraine Scheme: Homelessness

Damien Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to provide support for people who entered the UK under the Ukrainian sponsorship scheme and are now homeless.

Felicity Buchan: The overarching homelessness prevention grant amounts £366 million for 2022/23. This encompasses all cohorts. Local councils have a responsibility to support Ukrainians who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, including providing temporary accommodation where required to ensure no family is without a roof over their head.Up to date data on arrivals through the Homes for Ukraine Scheme can be accessed here. Details on funding for the scheme are available here. We are continuing to work with local authorities and sponsors to support them with their hosting arrangements.

Attorney General

Prosecutions: Standards

Alicia Kearns: To ask the Attorney General, what data her Department holds on the average length of time between (a) a suspect admitting committing an offence to the police and (b) that suspect being prosecuted for that offence.

Alicia Kearns: To ask the Attorney General, what the average time is for the Crown Prosecution Service to bring charges once a suspect has confessed a crime to the police.

Michael Tomlinson: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not hold data on the time between a suspect confessing to a crime and them being charged. The CPS is able to provide the average number of days between the first referral by the police for early advice or a charging decision and the CPS authorising charge. Once the CPS authorise charge the case is returned to the police to charge the defendant. In the 2021/2022 period, the average number of calendar days between when a referral is made to the CPS by the police and when the suspect is charged was 41.9 days.

Cabinet Office

China: National Security

Jim Shannon: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to tackle Chinese threats to UK security.

Jeremy Quin: Our approach to China is comprehensive and coordinated across government, allowing us to robustly defend our values whilst preserving space for cooperation where our interests align. Earlier this year, we introduced the National Security Bill to Parliament; this Bill will help us to respond to the evolving threat from hostile activity by any state targeting the UK’s democracy, economy and values by making the UK an even harder target for those who seek to conduct hostile acts against the UK. The UK has also enhanced our economic security regime and taken robust action to build our domestic resilience. We have:Announced the application of Military End Use Controls to China as part of our revised export control regime, in order to prevent military programmes benefiting from our advanced technology and research by UK firms and institutions.Strengthened visa screening of academics and researchers in sensitive areas of research through the Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS).Stepped up engagement with and guidance to our higher education and research sectors to alert them to potential risks.Launched the National Security and Investment Act, giving the government new powers to address national security risks arising from investment. The refresh of the UK’s Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy will ensure that our approach continues to adapt to meet new challenges.

Treasury

Tobacco: Smuggling

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many reports have been received through CrimeStoppers and referred to (a) HM Revenue and Customs and (b) Trading Standards relating to illegal tobacco in each of the last five years.

James Cartlidge: The figures for tobacco-related Crimestoppers reports received by HM Revenue and Customs are: Financial YearNumber of tobacco-related Crimestoppers reports2018/20196442019/20208672020/20215792021/20223422022/Present293 The figures for tobacco-related Crimestoppers reports received by Trading Standards are: Financial YearNumber of tobacco-related Crimestoppers reports2017/20181852018/2019532019/20201602020/20216672021/2022454

National Income

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment the Government has made of the (a) potential limitations of GDP growth as a measurement of the development of the UK economy and (b) potential merits of using alternative measurements such as the (i) Genuine Progress Indicator, (ii) Green Gross Domestic Product and (iii) Human Development Index.

Andrew Griffith: GDP measures the total value of all of the goods made, and services provided, during a specific period of time. GDP is important because the higher a country’s GDP is, the more resources are available to people in the country – goods and services, wages and profits. Growing GDP sustainably means the government is better equipped to invest in public services such as the police, NHS and schools. Whilst it remains one of our most important economic indicators, the Government recognises that GDP has its limitations and should not be seen as an all-encompassing measure of welfare. The ONS produce separate measures of subjective well-being, introduced as part of the 2010 National Well-being Programme, to start measuring our progress as a country, not just by how our economy is growing, but by how our lives are improving. This programme encompasses a broad range of measures including, happiness, health, the environment and personal finance. The Government has provided the Office for National Statistics (ONS) with an additional £25 million to help implement the recommendations of Sir Charles Bean’s 2016 Review of Economics Statistics, including through an initiative called ‘Beyond GDP’ that aims to address the limitations in GDP by developing broader measures of welfare and activity. As a result of this work, the UK became one of the first countries to publish natural capital accounts as part of its National Accounts (The Blue Book). The ONS is continuing to develop these accounts and also published human capital estimates for 2004-2018 as part of their wellbeing measures. The Dasgupta Review considers that a broader measure of ‘inclusive wealth’, comprising Natural, human and produced capital, can provide insights into a nation’s sustainable economic progress over time. In response to the recommendations of the Dasgupta review, HM Treasury provided further funding to the ONS to continue improving its natural capital estimates. This will improve their relevance for policy making, and ensure continued consideration of a broader measure of economic activity than just GDP.

Deposit Guarantee Scheme Regulations 2015

Stella Creasy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Retained EU Law Bill, whether he plans to (a) retain, (b) replace and (c) revoke the Deposit Guarantee Scheme Regulations 2015.

Andrew Griffith: Retained EU law in financial services is not repealed automatically by the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill. Instead, the Financial Services and Markets Bill repeals retained EU law in financial services so that it can be replaced with an approach to regulation designed for the UK. This includes the Deposit Guarantee Scheme Regulations 2015, which are listed in Schedule 1 of the Bill. As part of the Edinburgh Reforms, the government published “Building a Smarter Financial Services Framework for the UK “, which sets out its approach to repealing and replacing retained EU law in financial services using the powers in the Financial Services and Markets Bill. This includes identifying the first two “tranches” of reforms. The Deposit Guarantee Scheme Regulations 2015 will not form part of the first two tranches of reforms, and the government will set out plans regarding these regulations in due course. Much of the UK’s deposit protection framework is already delegated to the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), and sits in PRA rules. These rules are not repealed by the Financial Services and Markets Bill. The rules include, among other things, the depositor coverage limit, which is currently set at £85,000 per eligible person, per bank.

Public Houses: Business Rates

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing a reformed business rate for pubs that is equitable to other small businesses.

Victoria Atkins: The Valuation Office Agency determines the rateable value of public houses using the Fair Maintainable Turnover (FMT) basis, as agreed with representative trade bodies. At Autumn Statement 2022, the government announced a package of support worth £13.6 billion to businesses over the next five years. This includes an extended and increased 75 per cent relief for retail, hospitality, and leisure properties, up to a cash cap of £110,000 per business for 2023-24. This is a tax cut worth over £2 billion for around 230,000 businesses, which will support the businesses that make our high streets and town centres successful. This support builds on the previous temporary 50 per cent retail, hospitality and leisure scheme announced at Autumn Budget 2021, as well as the unprecedented £16 billion of business rates relief provided to the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors throughout the pandemic.

Energy: VAT

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of reducing the VAT on domestic energy to 2.5 per cent.

Victoria Atkins: The Energy Price Guarantee is a scheme that caps the unit price households pay for electricity and gas, which means that a typical household will have to pay bills equivalent to no more than £2500 a year on their energy bills this winter. This is expected to save consumers who use both gas and electricity around £900 this winter. The scheme as currently designed will last until 31 March 2023. As announced during the 2022 Autumn Statement, the EPG will increase to £3000 from April 2023 until April 2024. This new approach is expected to save around £14 billion to April 2024, ensuring fiscal sustainability, whilst targeting support to those most in need. The Government recognises that families should not have to bear all of the VAT costs they incur to meet their needs, with domestic fuels such as gas, electricity and heating oil already subject to the reduced VAT rate (at 5 per cent of VAT). The Government's package of support to help households with their energy bills is more generous than an additional VAT cut on domestic fuel and power, and there would be no guarantee that suppliers would pass on the discounts from this relief to all customers.

Public Sector: Industrial Disputes

Dan Carden: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will publish the calculations for the Prime Minister’s statement that public sector pay demands would cost each household £1,000.

John Glen: The £1000 per household figure is derived from dividing the total cost of an 11% increase in pay for all public sector workers in the UK in 2023/24 (£28bn) by the ONS’ latest estimate of the number of households in the UK (28.1m).The use of an 11.1% increase in pay for all public sector workers as a total cost figure is in line with the calls of many unions for inflation-matching awards (the Consumer Prices Index in the 12 months to October 2022 was 11.1%. This was the most recent data point for CPI inflation at the time the calculation was made).The total cost estimate of £28bn is derived using a costings model which takes outturn data on the total public sector pay bill for 2021/22, applies awards from 2022/23 (the impacts of which on pay bill per head were in the region of 5%) and then adds an 11.1% award in 2023/24. The model also applies standard assumptions on pay drift and workforce growth.

Commodity Markets: Regulation

Patrick Grady: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to strengthen the regulation of commodity markets to promote (a) stability and (b) transparency.

Andrew Griffith: The Government believes effective commodities markets regulation is key to ensure economic stability. This is the lesson we have learned from the 2000s food and financial crises and the Government remains committed to the G20 recommendations that sought to uphold that. Through the Financial Services and Markets Bill, the Government is making changes to the regime which we have inherited from the EU, which is overly complicated and poorly designed. For example, to ensure that the regime is calibrated effectively, the Bill delegates the setting of position limits from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to trading venues, who are well placed to ensure that it only applies to contracts that are subject to high volatility. The FCA will also retain its ability to directly intervene if need be. This will ensure that speculation in agricultural and physically settled contracts such as oil and gas does not lead to economic harm. The Government is also using the Financial Services and Markets Bill to improve the transparency regime for commodity derivatives. The regime that we have inherited from the EU was designed for equity markets and as such does not take into account the inherent differences between these two markets. The FCA will be given responsibility for creating a more tailored regime that improves transparency and recognises the diverse nature of our markets.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport: Trade

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many staff in her Department have been allocated to deal with issues related to international trade in (a) each of the past five years and (b) the next two years; and if she will make a statement.

Julia Lopez: DCMS staff allocated to trade negotiations, trade policy development, and trade analysis over the last 5 years is approximately:2018/19 - 37.5 FTE2019/20 - 37.5 FTE2020/21 - 39.9 FTE2021/22 - 36.7 FTE2022/23 - 34.3 FTEWith regards to FYs 2023-24 and 2024-25, future staffing is subject to ongoing Departmental Business Planning, therefore we are not able to comment on it at this time.Additionally, there is an international trade dimension relevant to many aspects of DCMS's work and so it is not possible to fully disaggregate staff time on international trade aspects versus other policy work.

Gambling: Taxation

Kim Leadbeater: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of introducing a general levy on sports betting and redistributing it to grassroots sport across the UK.

Kim Leadbeater: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of reintroducing a sports gambling levy.

Paul Scully: The Government levies duties on gambling operators based on their profits, including from sports betting. The Government also invests millions into grassroots sport facilities, with the majority of support coming through Sport England, which receives over £100m in Exchequer funding each year. A further £205m has been committed to grassroots facilities between 2022 and 2025. While the horserace betting levy recognises the unique relationship between horse racing and betting, other sports have far broader appeal. We currently have no plans to introduce a sports betting levy.

Online Safety Bill

Rachel Maclean: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will take steps to include specific provisions to tackle violence against women and girls in the Online Safety Bill.

Rachel Maclean: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether controlling and coercive behaviour will be listed as one of the priority offences under Schedule 7 of the Online Safety Bill.

Rachel Maclean: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how domestic abuse victims will be adequately protected through the Online Safety Bill.

Paul Scully: The Online Safety Bill includes stringent provisions to tackle online violence against women and girls, including domestic abuse.All in-scope services will need to proactively tackle priority illegal content. This includes a number of offences that disproportionately target women and girls, such as offences relating to sexual images, such as revenge and extreme pornography, harassment and cyberstalking. The Government has also announced its intention to add controlling or coercive behaviour as a priority offence during passage through the Lords.All services will need to ensure that they have effective systems and processes in place to quickly take down other illegal content directed at women and girls once it has been reported or they become aware of its presence.The Government has also announced its intention to use the Bill to criminalise the sharing of people's intimate images without their consent. This, in combination with the measures already in the Bill to make cyberflashing a criminal offence, will significantly strengthen protections for women.The strongest protections in the Bill will be for children, ensuring that they are protected from content that is harmful to them. Additionally, major platforms will have a duty to ensure that all adult users, including women, will be able to exercise greater control over the content and other users they engage with. Women and girls will also benefit from better mechanisms to report abuse online.We also announced our intention to name the Victims’ Commissioner and the Domestic Abuse Commissioner as Statutory Consultees for the codes of practice. These bodies will be consulted by Ofcom ahead of drafting and amending the codes of practice, ensuring the voices of those affected by these issues are reflected in the way this legislation works in practice.

Social Media: Disinformation

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that social media companies prevent misinformation on their platforms.

Paul Scully: Under the Online Safety Bill, all social media companies subject to the safety duties will be forced to take measures to remove illegal content online that is in scope of the Bill, including illegal misinformation and disinformation once they become aware of it. In addition, if a social media platform is likely to be accessed by children, they will have to protect them from a wide range of harmful content including misinformation and disinformation.We are already working closely with the major social media platforms to encourage them to cooperate at speed to swiftly remove disinformation and coordinated inauthentic or manipulated behaviour, as per their Terms of Service.

Broadband: Easington

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, for what reason average download speeds in Easington constituency are below the regional and national average; what steps she is taking to improve broadband upload speeds in Easington constituency; and how much funding has been allocated to upgrading broadband infrastructure in (a) Easington constituency, (b) the North East and (c) nationally in each of the last five years.

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how much funding has been allocated to upgrading broadband infrastructure in (a) Easington constituency, (b) the North East and (c) nationally in each of the last five years.

Julia Lopez: According to the independent website thinkbroadband.com, the estimated mean download speed in the Easington constituency during the third quarter of 2022 stood at 90 Mbps. This is slightly lower than the North East regional average of 96 Mbps and the UK average of 95. These averages are derived from crowd-sourced data and it is worth noting that users may not opt for the fastest speeds available when selecting a broadband package.Further improvements to broadband speeds in the Easington constituency will be delivered as part of our £5 billion investment in Project Gigabit, which is upgrading and future-proofing network infrastructure for decades to come. Easington is included in Project Gigabit’s North East England regional procurement, which covers up to an estimated 53,000 premises and has an indicative contract value of £82 million. Building Digital UK (BDUK) plans to award a contract between April and May next year.In addition to our Project Gigabit procurements, we are providing additional support through the Gigabit Broadband Voucher scheme to support rural communities across the UK with the cost of installing new gigabit-capable connections. Through the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme and its previous iterations, we have issued over 100,000 vouchers worth more than £214 million.Projects under the previous Superfast Broadband Programme in the North East covering Durham, Northumberland and Newcastle benefitted from UK Government funding of £24 million, alongside £24 million from the local authorities, £2 million European funding and £26 million from suppliers, to upgrade over 170,000 premises to superfast speeds over the lifetime of the programme. BDUK also delivered a Local Full Fibre Networks (LFFN) project in the North of Tyne area, with more than £5.8 million in government funding.At national level, spend through BDUK on broadband in each of the last five years is as follows:£mYear18/1919/2020/2121/2222/23Nationally38.629.99.610.012.5

Royal Parks: Avian Influenza

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department is taking steps to help reduce the risk of avian flu transmission to birds that are permanently resident in Royal Parks.

Stuart Andrew: Managing the risk of avian influenza transmission is an operational matter for The Royal Parks, which is following instructions issued by the Animal Plant and Health Agency.The captive bird collection of pelicans in St James’s Park has been moved indoors and The Royal Parks’ staff and wildlife officers are carrying out enhanced monitoring of the park waterbodies to check for signs of illness and to ensure that, should there be any, carcasses are removed immediately.Additional signs have been installed in all the parks in areas where public feeding of birds is popular, instructing visitors not to feed the birds as this causes populations of waterfowl to group together and increases the risk of transmission.

Arts: Finance

Barbara Keeley: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the proposed National Portfolio Programme 2023-26 on the number of (a) performers, (b) stage management staff and (c) creative team directly engaged by National Portfolio Organisations.

Stuart Andrew: Decisions about which organisations to fund, and by how much, are taken by Arts Council England at arm’s length from the Government. Arts Council England made its decisions in line with its published guidance and its ten-year strategy, ‘Let’s Create’. Assessments were carried out by Arts Council England, and decisions were made by its Area and National Councils, which include both local representatives and people who work in the sector. Any questions about specific funding decisions should be directed to Arts Council England.The Government will continue to work with Arts Council England to understand the impacts of its investment in arts and culture, including on performers, stage management staff, and creative teams directly engaged by National Portfolio Organisations.

Opera

Barbara Keeley: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of reviewing opera (a) funding and (b) geographical provision in England.

Barbara Keeley: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of Arts Council England’s decision to reduce funding for the English National Opera on (a) permanent and (b) freelance employment in that sector.

Stuart Andrew: I refer the Hon Member for Worsley and Eccles South to my previous answers on these matters, UIN 97389, tabled on 28 November 2022 by the Rt Hon Member for Camberwell and Peckham.

English National Opera: Finance

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Art Council England National Portfolio Organisation funding between 2023 to 2026 on the English National Opera Breathe programme.

Stuart Andrew: Decisions regarding what programmes an organisation delivers are made independently of the Government. As part of its decisions relating to its 2023–26 Investment Programme, Arts Council England – which operates at arm’s length from the Government – has proposed a package of support for English National Opera. The Department is keen that Arts Council England and English National Opera work together on possibilities for the future of the organisation.

English National Opera: Finance

Sir Peter Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how much public funding the English National Opera received in each of the last 15 years; and what discussions his Department had with Arts Council England on funding that organisation (a) over the next three years and (b) in the long term; and if she will make a statement.

Stuart Andrew: Records of the level of public funding for English National Opera are available in its annual accounts, which are published online on the Companies House website.Following Arts Council England’s decisions relating to English National Opera and its 2023–26 Investment Portfolio, which are taken at arm’s length from the Government, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport is helping to convene relevant parties and support them to find a way forward. I am keen that Arts Council England and English National Opera work together on the future of the organisation.All decisions on which organisations to fund through the 2023–26 Investment Programme, and by how much, have been taken by Arts Council England in line with the long-standing principle that Arts Council England makes such decisions at arm’s length from the Government. The Chief Executive of Arts Council England, Darren Henley, answered questions from the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee on these issues on 8 December 2022.

Broadband: Easington

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to improve broadband upload speeds in Easington constituency.

Julia Lopez: According to the independent website thinkbroadband.com, the estimated mean upload speed in the Easington constituency during the third quarter of 2022 stood at 20 Mbps. This is slightly lower than the national average of 22 Mbps across the UK. These averages are derived from crowd-sourced data and it is worth noting that users may not opt for the fastest speeds available when selecting a broadband package.Almost 99% of premises in the Easington constituency are able to access superfast broadband (>=30Mbps), which meets the vast majority of everyday requirements such as high definition streaming and video calling on multiple devices. This is higher than the national average. I am also pleased to share that 74% of premises in the Easington constituency can access a gigabit-capable connection, which is ahead of the national average of 72%.Further improvements to broadband speeds in the Easington constituency will be delivered as part of our £5 billion investment in Project Gigabit, which is upgrading and future-proofing network infrastructure for decades to come. Easington is included in Project Gigabit’s North East England regional procurement, which covers up to an estimated 53,000 premises and has an indicative contract value of £82 million. Building Digital UK (BDUK) plans to award a contract between April and May next year.Alongside direct Government investment, we have created a competition-friendly environment in areas where deployment is commercially viable. As a result, there is now a thriving market of over 80 providers investing nearly £35 billion rolling out gigabit broadband all over the UK.

Technology: Russia

Tony Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will hold discussions with technology companies to help ensure that their platforms are not being used to disseminate Russian propaganda.

Paul Scully: The government takes the issue of disinformation seriously. The DCMS-led Counter Disinformation Unit (CDU) works to identify and counter Russian state-backed disinformation, working closely with cross Whitehall partners and the major social media platforms. The CDU encourages platforms to swiftly remove disinformation and coordinated inauthentic or manipulated behaviour, as per their Terms of Service. It also engages regularly with social media companies and technology companies to understand policy changes and other countermeasures related to Russian information activities, and the effectiveness of these actions.

Leisure and Swimming Pools: Facilities

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what additional support she is making available to support swimming pools and leisure centres in response to increases in energy costs.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the contribution that swimming pools and leisure centres make to physical and mental wellbeing and consequent reductions in NHS costs in the long term as a result of better health outcomes.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment she has made of the financial viability of swimming pools and leisure centres.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she will take to prevent swimming pools from closing as a result of increased running costs over the next 12 months.

Stuart Andrew: We recognise the importance of ensuring public access to swimming pools, as swimming is a great way for people of all ages to stay fit and healthy. The responsibility of providing this access lies at Local Authority level, and the Government continues to encourage Local Authorities to support swimming facilities.We appreciate the impact rising energy prices are having on organisations of all sizes, including on operators of swimming pools. In September the Government announced the Energy Bill Relief Scheme, under which businesses and other non-domestic energy users (including swimming pools) are being offered support. The Energy Bill Relief Scheme is currently under review to ensure support is targeted to the most vulnerable sectors.Officials in my department are in regular contact with representatives from the sector to assess the impact of rising energy costs, and how operators and local authorities are responding to them.Sport England has invested £12,775,274 in swimming and diving projects since April 2019, which includes £9,360,002 to Swim England. This is in addition to the £100 million National Leisure Recovery Fund, which supported the reopening of local authority swimming pools throughout the country after the pandemic.

Cricket: Ethnic Groups

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 5 July 2022 to Question 26040 on Cricket: Ethnic Groups, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the performance of the England and Wales Cricket Board to increase the number of ethnic minority cricket officials in (a) England and (b) Wales.

Stuart Andrew: The national governing body for cricket, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) assesses trends in representation in the sport. This includes the level of representation of cricket officials from ethnic minorities.The ECB have acknowledged there remains an under-representation of Black and South Asian heritage officials despite an increase in the proportion of umpires from ethnically diverse backgrounds on the National Panel last year. Following an independent Officiating Review in 2021, the ECB have committed to four ambitions focusing on equity of opportunity, inspiring the next generation, developing a diverse network that reflects society and promoting a culture of inclusivity and fairness.The ECB continues to work on developing an officiating structure in which there is equality of opportunity for all. In the recreational game, applications will soon be invited for umpire tutors to deliver a new ECB umpiring course. The aim is to recruit and train a more diverse workforce. On 8 December 2022 the ECB also published updates to their game-wide action plan to tackle discrimination and their Equity, Diversity and Inculsion plan.The updated Code for Sports Governance requires sports organisations that receive significant public funding, including the ECB, to agree a diversity and inclusion action plan with Sport England and/or UK Sport, which will be published and updated annually. The Government and our arm’s length bodies will continue to monitor and liaise with the cricket authorities on improving diversity and inclusion at all levels.

Television Licences: Non-payment

Lee Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many pensioners have been prosecuted for non-payment of the TV Licence fee in each of the last three years.

Julia Lopez: The requirement to hold, and pay for, a TV Licence is set out in the Communications Act 2003 and the Communications (Television Licensing) Regulations 2004.The Ministry of Justice currently publishes the number of prosecutions, convictions and sentencing outcomes for the non-payment of TV licence fees annually as part of their criminal justice statistics quarterly publications, which can be viewed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/criminal-justice-statistics-quarterlyFigures for each year since 2005 up to 2022 are available in the Outcomes by Offence data tool, and can be found in the following dataset:2018-2022: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1118314/outcomes-by-offence-june-2022.xlsxTo view the relevant figures in these tables, select ‘191A Television licence evasion’ in the Offence filter. These figures can be refined further by age to identify an age range of 70+, it is impossible to provide the data for 'pensioners' as that is a diverse group that cannot be filtered purely by age.The data for individuals aged 70+ are the following:​2022 - 260 proceeded against & 217 sentenced2021 - 238 proceeded against & 207 sentenced 2020 - 329 proceeded against & 288 sentencedAlternative data does also show no Over 75s have been prosecuted and that none of the prosecutions have resulted in custodial sentences.

Gendered Intelligence: Finance

Miriam Cates: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has provided funding to the charity Gendered Intelligence (a) directly and (b) through associated bodies since 2009.

Stuart Andrew: DCMS has records of grant funding provided to the charity Gendered Intelligence from September 2017, either directly by the Department or through Arm’s Length Bodies or other delivery partners.Gendered Intelligence has received funds directly from DCMS as a supplier of training on one occasion.The National Lottery Community Fund has funded Gendered Intelligence to support young transgender people and their families through peer support sessions, mental health support and to reduce isolation.Funding from Sport England enabled Gendered Intelligence to deliver capacity building training to national governing bodies; this was delivered through the Sport England’s Trans Inclusion Project.Funding as part of the Big Night In campaign was administered by Children in Need on behalf of DCMS as part of the financial support for voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations to respond to coronavirus (COVID-19).

Ministry of Justice

Prisoners: Gender Recognition

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 30 November 2022 to Question 96653 on Prisoners: Gender Recognition, how many transgender prisoners without a Gender Recognition Certificate in each offence category reported are of (a) male sex (transwomen) and (b) female sex (transmen).

Damian Hinds: Please find the information in the attached data table, noting that this does not cover transgender prisoners with a gender recognition certificate.Table_108375 (xlsx, 17.9KB)

Prisoners' Release: Christmas

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 7 December 2022 to Question 101737 on Prisoners' Release: Christmas, if he will provide a breakdown of the 145 prisoners who were released on Friday 24 December 2021 by offence.

Damian Hinds: The attached table gives the main offence category for the 145 prisoners with a conditional release date of 25th or 26th December 2021 who were instead released on 24th December 2021 due to the provisions of the Criminal Justice Act 1961.Where a prisoner is serving a sentence of 5 days’ imprisonment or more and their automatic release date falls on a weekend or bank holiday, the Criminal Justice Act 1961 requires their release on the preceding working day so that there are appropriate services and support available when they are released.Table_108227 (xlsx, 16.9KB)

Women and Equalities

Assistance Animals

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, if she will take steps to tackle access refusal of people with assistance dogs by businesses.

Stuart Andrew: No one should be refused access to businesses or services because they legitimately have an assistance dog.The Equality Act 2010 places a duty on businesses and service providers to make reasonable adjustments to improve disabled people’s access to goods and services so they are not placed at a substantial disadvantage compared to non-disabled people. This reasonable adjustment duty is an anticipatory duty, meaning that those who provide goods, facilities and services to members of the public are expected to anticipate the reasonable adjustments that disabled customers may require, including auxiliary aids.The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is the public body responsible for enforcing the Equality Act. In 2017, the Commission published two pieces of guidance – a guide to help businesses understand what they can do to meet their legal duties to assistance dog owners, and a guide to help tourism businesses welcome people with access requirements. The EHRC supports disabled individuals who have experienced discrimination to take their cases to court.In recent years, case law has strengthened the equalities law for people with assistance dogs. There have been a number of significant cases brought under the Equality Act involving assistance dogs, which have been successfully litigated, for example, Bloch v Kassim (assistance dogs in taxis); Clutton and Williams v Pen-y-Bryn Group (assistance dogs in restaurants); and McCafferty v Miah (assistance dogs in shops). The Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS), the equalities and human rights helpline, receives about 35,000 customer contacts a year, more than 60% of which concern disability issues. The EASS can intervene directly with or assist the complainant to take the case up with the relevant service provider in many cases, including those involving assistance dogs.